Mineral Moon
by MikariStar
Summary: A collection of short stories taking place in Mineral Town. About Won's apples, blue feathers, bad weather, Harvest Sprites and more.
1. Apples for Sale

A collection of short stories taking place in Mineral Town. Won's apples, blue feathers, bad weather, Harvest Sprites and more.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 01: Apples for Sale

It's always the same. Won puts so much effort into making those apples and after all that, no one wants to buy them. He tried to sell them at the inn and Doug got angry, it was his business and he was upset that someone else was selling food. Doug even told his customers not to take the food out of the shop. What did he think they were going to do? Try to figure out the recipe. It's not hard to figure out in the first place and that's without taking the food out.

Won wasn't worried about people figuring out his recipes, he was sure they were special, too special. Ann wasn't happy about the business either, though she once bought an apple. Won was sure she was trying to figure out the recipe but judging by her mood the next day she probably didn't. She didn't buy any other apples after that.

Duke wasn't too interested in apples; he preferred grapes, liquid and old, known as wine. Manna just wanted to talk, about her daughter who left long ago, about the May's mysterious mother, about the weather, about how Doctor was so dense not to notice Elli has a crush on him, about how Sasha said she saw the Harvest Sprites heading towards the nearby farm early in the morning, about anything and everything without letting Won get a word in. Before he thought he talked fast, but he was no competition for Manna.

Mary was always busy reading, writing or spending time with Gray. Karen, the beautiful Karen, she ignored him most of the time in favor of spending time with Rick. It seemed that most people had something to do that didn't include buying apples. The Harvest Sprites even liked flour more than anything else, including apples. Not even Kai, who came only in the summer, would buy an apple as a souvenir.

Basil, Anna, Seibara, Carter, Cliff, the mayor, Gotz, everyone... Won even tried to sell the apples to Zack and even he wouldn't buy them. Excuses, excuses, too busy, too tired, in a hurry, not hungry, just ate, already have enough apples, the excuses were endless and clearly people didn't appreciate the fact that Won's apples were not ordinary apples. Not even the Harvest Goddess showed the excitement and happiness Won thought she should show when he offered her the apples he couldn't sell.

Feeling frustrated, Won decided to take a shortcut through the farm after visiting the Harvest Goddess and once again, try to sell the farmer who lives there some apples. He had failed to do business in the morning but he would try again.

After Won delivered his usual speech about the apples he had for sale, the farmer paused in thought and decided to buy one. Won had his offers refused so many times during the day, that he replied automatically, upset that once again the farmer had refused to buy an apple.

As Won left, the farmer stood there for a moment wondering what was his problem, did he want to sell the apples or not? The farmer shrugged and went inside the house for dinner, while Won walked home disappointed that he didn't sell a single apple.

End of Harvest 01

Disclaimer, I do not own Harvest Moon.

xoxox xox xoxox

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	2. Blue Feather

This isn't going to be a "lets pick on Won" collection. It is a mere coincidence that I picked on him twice in a row... (that and the fact that he's so fun to pick on). The pairing for this one is Farmer Girl x Cliff, he's my favorite.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 02: Persistent

She had hoped that the supermarket had a blue feather for her to buy. She had heard that they always brought them just when someone needed them. It was a common fact that everyone knew about everyone else's relationships, hence the convenient timing. However, much to her disappointment, the super market had no blue feather in stock. Could it be that her beloved Cliff was falling out of love and they had noticed it before she did? No, that couldn't be it! Could it? Sad and disappointed the farmer left.

She decided to take the long way home and stopped at the church. Maybe talking to Carter would cheer her up, he always seemed to be able to clam people. "You look upset today. Is something wrong?"

She nodded. "I wanted to buy a blue feather but there are none at the store."

"Perhaps you're not ready to take that step," Carter paused, he knew the farmer was ready and so was Cliff. The young man could hardly wait for a blue feather to be given to him. Carter had told him to try giving the blue feather to his beloved instead but Cliff was a little too shy to do it. At least the farmer wasn't shy but she was featherless. "Or maybe someone already brought it."

She certainly knew how to take a hint. "Thanks Carter!"

Before the priest could finish saying "you're welcome," the farmer was already out of the church and half way to the supermarket. After interrogating Jeff about who purchased the feather, she was off to Mineral Beach.

She entered Zack's house. Sure enough, the blue feather was beautifully on display on top of a box in Won's shop.

"Welcome! Take your time." Won followed her gaze to the blue feather. "Decorative, isn't it?"

"I want it, I need it! How much does it cost?" The farmer immediately asked.

"The feather is not for sale, it is only there for decoration." Won explained.

"You don't understand; I need to buy it! I've been planning this occasion the entire season!" The farmer kept trying to make the merchant understand, but it wasn't working.

"You're persistent," Won observed.

"Zack!" She whined at her shipper and friend, who was mumbling about wishing he could have given a blue feather to a certain someone, that older woman he was still in love with.

Zack snapped back into reality and tried to reason with Won. "Let her buy the feather, she's a regular customer. She's your only customer actually, and it's not like you were planning to use it for anything other than decorating."

Won was still not convinced. "The feather is not for sale, it will decorate the shop, improving the atmosphere and attracting more customers. But I do have some great seeds, very rare, top quality seed."

The farmer slammed her first against the orange box that served as Won's counter and the wood creaked and cracked in protest. "I need that feather, now." She spoke slowly emphasizing every word, her tone sharp and threatening.

Won backed away. "Mean lady! What to do?" The next thing he knew, Won had a mystrile hammer dangerously hovering over his head. "It's golden service time! Golden service time! Just take it!"

The farmer gladly accepted the blue feather. "It's pleasure to do business with you," she grinned.

Won muttered something along the lines of "poor Cliff."

"What did you say?" The farmer asked.

Won immediately backed away further. "I was just saying that Cliff is such a lucky man to be in love with such a lovely lady!"

"Why, thank you," she smiled and skipped out of the shop.

Won tried to compose himself. His entire life had flashed before his eyes. He looked towards Zack who was making a funny face. Unable to contain it any longer, Zack burst out laughing and Won pouted.

End of Harvest 02

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. 


	3. Casualties

Disclaimer, I do not own Harvest Moon. Here's a Kai humor one-shot for Ultra Drama Queen. I picked on Won again, but I also picked on Zack and Kai this time.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 03: Casualties

Kai never understood why Gotz didn't like white. He never understood why Rick didn't like him. There were a lot of things about Mineral Town that he didn't quite understand. Maybe someday he would, if he stayed there for a little longer, but he had a home and things to do in the city, even if sometimes his family drove him mad. He loved to take a break from it all and visit Mineral Town in the summer. He never liked the cold so in the winter he headed south.

His most regular customers were Popuri, when ever she got away from Rick, and a young farmer who had recently moved into town. Time seemed to move slower in that quiet, small town. Kai wasn't sure if he liked it or not but it was peaceful so it wasn't a bad thing. It was just so different from life in the city.

Back home he knew a girl named Aja, possibly the daughter of Duke and Manna. Her story seemed to match. He was close to mentioning it once but was warned by both Popuri and the farmer not to do it. It would not cause Aja to return, but it would cause him to be drowned in questions by Manna. She was talkative and always followed who ever had information about the city where her daughter lived.

Kai noted that the couple had taken a liking to Cliff, almost as if he were their son. He also knew that the young lady farmer was torn between him and Cliff and Kai was torn between her and Popuri. Then again, he didn't really feel like having a serious relationship at the moment. He wanted to travel and see the world. Cliff looked more like someone who would settle down.

Regardless of all his thoughts, Kai was bored, time passed by too slowly in that town. He decided to visit Zack's house and see how business was doing. Not surprisingly, Won was happy that a new customer had arrived even if Kai didn't initially have any intentions of buying anything, but Won kept showing him merchandise.

Trying to get away from the merchant, Kai decided to talk to Zack. He noticed he had many pictures of Lillia all over the far wall of the room next to his bed. It was obvious he liked her but for the sake of starting a conversation; Kai came close to asking the obvious question he really shouldn't ask, but there was a blackout.

Kai regretted staying out at the beach late, he regretted knocking on Zack door late; he regretted being stuck. It was odd really but everyone seemed to freeze when there was a blackout. The farmer had once admitted to standing next to her bed the entire time until the power came back on, instead of actually going to bed like she originally planned to do, even if she was going to turn the lights off anyway.

The minutes passed, dragging on forever like years. "Now what?" Kai finally asked.

"We must wait," Won replied. "I have more merchandise to show you after the power comes back on."

"Well it's time for me to go on home!" Kai headed for the door but stopped as he heard a loud noise, it was the sound of the roaring wind.

"My glow in the dark clock says it is midnight," Won informed them.

"Hurricane," Zack concluded.

Kai was confused. "What?"

"Didn't you watch the weather report? A hurricane was to come tomorrow, I mean today." Zack explained. "It's midnight... A blackout and a hurricane all at once, what back luck." Bad luck? Wasn't it logical? What wasn't logical was the fact that the hurricane was ever so punctual.

"Now what?" Kai repeated his question exasperated.

"We must wait... or maybe sleep until the weather improves?" Won asked.

"Where do you guys sleep anyway?" Kai asked. As far as Kai knew, Won was basically living with Zack and there was only one bed, it wasn't like sharing a room at the inn which had enough beds for everyone.

"In a bed obviously," Zack replied as a matter of fact.

"You mean together?" Kai didn't like the way the conversation was going.

"I believe you are mistaken," Won tried to clarify. "It is young girls who like having sleepovers and sleeping together."

In the farm house, the farmer, Mary, Popuri, Ann, Karen and Elli simultaneously sneezed. Even if the recently purchased 'big bed' was big, it wasn't big enough for a sleepover that included six girls, even after uniting it with the regular bed.

"Yeah, I sleep on my bed and Won sleeps in his box." Zack explained very naturally.

"In a box?" Kai questioned.

"I have extra boxes available if you wish to get some sleep. I will find a box to sell to you." Won tried to find the box in the darkness.

"I'm not interested in buying a box, or sleeping in one," Kai argued, but Won wasn't listening.

"But you can carry many things in it! It is most convenient!" Won wasn't going to take no for an answer.

By a twist of fate, or mischief of the Harvest Goddess, the stacked up boxes came down in a massive avalanche trapping Won, Kai and Zack under them. "Now what?" Kai repeated his seemingly eternal question.

"I'm tired," Zack announced and he promptly fell asleep. It was still dark but Won and Kai could tell Zack was sleeping because of the sound of his loud snoring.

"I told you boxes were very comfortable to sleep in. Maybe you will consider buying one, or a dozen in the morning. Good night customer." Won was already used to sleeping among the boxes so it wasn't too hard for him to go off into slumber land.

'Now what?' Kai thought. He tried to escape the box avalanche but they were all over the house and he didn't know which way the bed was. Kai thought about sleeping on it since he couldn't go outside and Zack wasn't using it having fallen asleep on the stop, but he never found it in the mess of random boxes. Talk about casualties, when it rains it pours and when it pours it storms.

End of Harvest 03 


	4. Dreams and Secrets

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. This is based on one of the dreams the girl farmer has. Surprise, surprise, I didn't pick on Won this time!

Mineral Moon

Harvest 04: Dreams and Secrets

It was late but she desperately needed help. Tomorrow would be a busy day and she didn't have time to take care of the farm. It was her husband's birthday, then the day after that, her wedding anniversary and the day after she had a festival to attend. She needed the help of the Harvest Sprites so they better be awake.

She shouldn't have waited until the last minute to ask for their help but running a farm was not an easy task. She got distracted with work and the preparations for the next three days and time just flew by. She had to practically knock the door down to get into the super market because she had used all her flour preparing many delicious treats that now safely waited to be eaten in the farm house refrigerator. Good thing she was friends with Karen, Sasha and Jeff.

After filling her rucksack with gift wrapped boxes of flour, the farmer dashed to the little hut behind the church where the Harvest Sprites lived. She knocked on the door hoping that they would open it. "I have gifts! I'm sure you'll like them!" She knocked again and the door gave up. After eating so many power berries she didn't know her own strength.

"Together!" Seven little voices called. They formed a circle and fused, repeating that word as they did. Then he appeared.

"Gourmet!" The farmer exclaimed. A bright rainbow light came towards her then the world faded into darkness.

When she regained consciousness, the farmer was in her house, on her bed. Her husband was sleeping peacefully beside her. "Dream?" She wasn't sure what was going on but she went back to sleep. What else could she do?

The next morning the farmer was pleasantly surprised to find the Harvest Sprites working at her farm. She concluded that all that running around must have gone to her head and that she simply couldn't remember asking them for help and returning home. Everything between her arrival at their hut and waking up after that dream was a blur. But it must have gone well because the Harvest Sprites were there, working at the farm, so she could take some well deserved time off and enjoy the special occasions.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, the Harvest Sprites were having a little secret reunion at the chicken coop.

"Do you think she knows?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure she thinks it's just a dream."

"Yeah, we already fixed the door and no else saw."

"Relax, our secret is safe."

End of Harvest 04 


	5. Journey

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. A story with Rick and Popuri, requested by Ultra Drama Queen. It explains a bit about the sibling's past, based mostly on what Popuri says in the game.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 05: Journey

A little girl with pink hair went out to the yard of her family's farm. Her father and brother were taking care of the chickens. She ran to them eagerly. "Daddy, what do I do?"

Her father smiled and gently patted her head. "A baby chick was born today. Why don't you name it, Popuri?"

The little girl smiled brightly. "Jin!" It was a simple yet cute name.

"Well done Popuri, you've named a chicken for the first time. Animals need to have a name and be treated with kindness. Thank you for your help, you can go on and play now, you've worked enough for today."

Popuri smiled and nodded. "Okay!" She ran off to play with the other little girls who lived at the village, just as her father said. For a moment she stopped, her brother Rick was still with their father and the parent was explaining something. She shrugged, she loved her brother dearly but he must have been terrible at choosing names. She chose just the right name on her first try, so her job for the day was done.

xoxox xox xoxox

Every time it was the same. Rick would spend a lot of time with their father, learning all about how to properly raise a chicken, and Popuri's job would be done after a simple task. Sometimes she ran off to play with the other little girls after doing that simple task, and sometimes she stayed to play with the chickens. She knew she had to be gentle and make them feel safe, but then it was pretty logical. Popuri had natural talent, she was convinced.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Ken! Let's call this one Ken!" Popuri named yet another chicken. It was the last chicken she named before her father left on a journey. He wanted to find a cure for her mother's illness.

xoxox xox xoxox

As time passed and Popuri grew, she realized that she didn't know as much as she thought she did. Anyone could name a chicken and though it was considered cruel to give them weird names, most of the time chickens couldn't care less what they were called as long as they were fed and treated gently. Lillia took care of the store and Rick took care of the chickens; Popuri didn't know what to do.

Sometimes Popuri became resentful that her father didn't teach her anything and tried to make it look like he did. She sometimes felt useless to the farm, except when it came to naming chickens which she was sure her brother or mother could do just fine without her help after all. Pon had been the last chicken she named before she decided that she didn't feel like naming chickens anymore. She wanted a real job at the farm, but she didn't get it. Instead she went for walks in the morning and spent her time in the house the rest of the time.

Every now and then, Popuri went to visit her childhood friends when they were not busy, they had real jobs. Mary was a librarian and writer, Karen helped out at the supermarket and occasionally made deliveries to customers, Ann cleaned the rooms at the inn and helped with the cooking, Elli was a nurse and worked at the clinic's pharmacy. Popuri was just Popuri, protected and spoiled Popuri.

It wasn't that her father didn't think a woman was capable of running a farm, it was just that Popuri with her pink hair looked too much like her mother. It wasn't a bad thing, she was a beautiful young lady but when ever her father looked at her, he felt she needed to be protected. Popuri wasn't as fragile as Lillia, she was perfectly healthy but her father still worried about her.

Before he left, their father had asked Rick to take care of his mother and sister, in fact he had been raised on the idea that he needed to protect them. Popuri wasn't as fragile as Lillia but he had to protect her anyway. Sometimes it was a little overwhelming, sometimes it didn't allow Popuri to truly grow. She was childlike in many ways. She even participated in the Pumpkin festival saying that it wasn't fair that only children got treats, but she wanted freedom.

It was that desire for freedom that made Kai catch her attention. He did as he pleased, traveling all over the world. He was free as she longed to be. One day she left with Kai, Rick threw a fit, and a shoe among other things. It seemed that Karen, whom he had secretly liked since childhood, was the only one who could calm him down. Life is a journey, and this was the path that Popuri had chosen for herself, it was her life, her journey.

End of Harvest 05 


	6. Elusive

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. This one shot was inspired by a review from Ekoaleko, enjoy. This time the pairing is Gray x Mary. This little story is more poetic than humorous but it has a bit of humor in the end if you picture it happening.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 06: Elusive

That plot twist, that magnificent scene she wanted to write. Unexpected yet smooth, flowing into the characters' lives like a gentle yet adventurous stream. To venture into the unknown and discover what awaited them, mystery, emotion, excitement. It was elusive, ever so elusive. She had a vague picture in her mind but she couldn't clarify it, no matter how many times she took a break to clean her already crystalline glasses. Regardless of the rush of feelings she experienced when she read her favorite novel. Despite her wish to write, even with his presence and especially because of his presence, the words eluded her.

Her pen refused to dance upon the eternally white sheet of paper. Cold as snow, emotionless, melancholic, the sheet remained as white as the most freezing winter. There he was, seemingly distracted by the books, searching for something to read. He had not asked for a recommendation after articulating nothing but a small greeting. Did he not want to speak to her or did he simply believe that she was too occupied in her own musings to pay attention to him today?

While she struggled against writer's block, Mary did not realize how poetic her thoughts were. She waged the hopeless war, unaware that victory was in her grasp should she let those artistic views flow from her imagination and skate upon the pure ice of her untouched canvas. To paint with words, to create and transform, that world, those people, those secrets hidden so deeply in her mind, that not even she could freely gaze upon them.

Her eyes followed him in pure gentle silence. If he felt the gentle, warm and passionate heat of her loving eyes upon him, he did not reveal it. Unconsciously, slowly, unknowingly, Mary set her pen down so gently that it did not make the slightest sound, as it was left to rest upon the polished wood of her desk.

She allowed the war to rage on by itself,  
Letting her thoughts rest upon that shelf,  
There, where her love's hand reached,  
She realized the hard wall she breached.

She flew so high, into the endless sky,  
Clear pictures and words filled her mind.  
A story so elusive was becoming real,  
The truth of how he made her feel.

She observed him, golden hair, sapphire eyes, and perfection in her mind. She was soaring through the clouds. The words came to her painting her world in her mind. She could write, she could write all which she hoped to write. Her wish was grated in more ways than one. Her inspiration, so elusive sometimes, would not elude her today.

She smiled, true happiness and bliss... and then she sneezed.

Gray looked at Mary and smiled. "Bless you."

She smiled sheepishly in return. "Thank you." Of all the possible moments to sneeze!

End of Harvest 06

Thanks to Skaia for beta reading!


	7. Hypocrisy

Revision notes: I wrote these stories before I knew that the farmer had an official name, Clair, since in the game the player has to name her. For the sake of consistency I will keep the name Luna in my old stories and name her Clair in the new stories I may write in the future.

Original notes: Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. While I am exploring the possibilities of the 'secret bachelors', here's another one. I pity the farmer whom I have called Luna. I was getting tired of referring to her as 'the farmer'. I usually name the boy Natsume in fanfics. Both unoriginal, I know. The good news is that the humor ficlets have returned!

Mineral Moon

Harvest 07: Hypocrisy

"Hypocrites! You're all hypocrites!" It was like one of those urban legends of a small town in the middle of nowhere, with a terrible hidden secret. They had received into their town and accepted her into their society, but she was nothing but a sacrifice. She squired, kicked, punched and screamed colorful insults even if she was in the church. If not for the fact that she was severely outnumbered, she would have won and it would have been a massacre. Even now, not one of the villagers had escaped without black and purple bruises, a black eye, scratches or a broken bone. Luna was a force to be feared.

However, the villagers completed their sacrifice. Looking particularly fearful, regretful and beat up, Carter declared them husband and wife. Luna was now married to a man known as Gourmet.

All those times they had encouraged her to participate in the cooking festival, all those compliments, all those acts of friendship and support. They were only trying to gain her trust. Hypocrites! Sacrificing her to save themselves from being eaten by that monster, who claimed to be a chef and cooking contest judge! She would not forgive them, Luna swore revenge!

They held her down with chains and hands that come from the floor. It was black magic, a terrible spell. Gourmet came towards her. After the marriage was done, he would eat his wife. She screamed and struggled but couldn't get free. It was the end!

xoxox xox xoxox

"Ah!" When she woke up she was at home.

Her husband woke up as well, in fact all of Mineral Town probably heard her scream. "What's wrong?"

"Nightmare," Luna's breathing was still heavy, her heart was still pounding.

Her husband hugged her gently. "It's ok, it was just a nightmare."

She held on to him for dear life, but he was right. It was just a nightmare; it was nothing to worry about...

xoxox xox xoxox

Some time later, at the end of summer, Luna was told that Popuri married Kai and left to live in the city. She was surprised that she was not invited to the wedding since she was friends with both the bride and groom. She was even more shocked to see Kai alone the next summer. He denied ever marrying Popuri and tried asking what happened to her, but no one ever told him...

End of Harvest 07

Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	8. Medicine

Pairings, FarmerxCliff and EllixDoctor.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 08: Medicine

"Good to see you, Luna!" The farmer didn't like the doctor's tone. She had a fear in the back of her mind, a fear for being used as a guinea pig. "I made this new medicine and I was wondering if you would like to try it." The doctor smiled proudly of his concoction. He started explaining what it was supposed to do, but soon realized that he was talking to himself.

As fast as a blue hedgehog, or maybe even faster, Luna had wasted no time in running for her life. She ran away so fast, she tackled Cliff and knocked him to the ground as she zoomed away from the clinic, and back to the safety of her farm, passing by in front of the super market.

Karen was just going out. She stopped and took a rather long moment to laugh, letting the amusement ring out loudly. Still smiling she made her recommendation. "Get a room!"

With matching faces, as red as the tomatoes harvested from Luna's farm; Luna and Cliff rushed to get up. While the shy boy who worked at the winery could only mutter something inaudible, Luna had clearly told Karen to "shut up!" To which Karen replied with nothing more than another amused laugh.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Ow..." Well she was finally in her beloved's arms but not in the way she wanted. She would prefer a romantic embrace instead of being half carried and half dragged to a hospital bed. But alas, luck was not on Elli's side.

"I'm sorry," the doctor apologized. Elli was trying to cheer him up by trying his medicine, but its effect was obviously not what he expected it to be.

"It's alright..." Elli closed her eyes and tried to rest a little. "But don't expect me to drink something like that again." She felt bad because her words may disappoint him, but a respectable woman could only go so far for a man, and Elli was most certainly not feeling suicidal.

"Fair enough," he smiled with understanding. He really would be lost without Elli, in more ways than one.

End of Harvest 08

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. This one is for The Scarlet Sky, based on the event where you have the choice to run away instead of trying the doctor's medicine.

Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	9. Unlucky

Popuri is having boy troubles and Won is having box troubles.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 09: Unlucky

This was not his day, from beginning to end, it was simply not a good day for Won. It all started when he was rudely awakened by the sound, and the pain of his so called bed collapsing. There was only one bed in Zack's house and Won slept in a box. He didn't really fit inside so he slept on top of it. It wasn't just any old box; it was his trusted orange box. It was more of a wooden crate than a box actually, which is way it didn't fall apart under his weight until that day.

That morning there was a crash formed by the sound of wood being broken and crushed and a man being dropped atop the mess. Won somehow got back on his feet, rubbing his aching back and stared at his precious box in disbelief. "My bed!"

"What bed? That was just a box." Zack said as he got out of bed, a real bed. He had been woken up by the noise so he might as well get up.

"The cruelty! You're heartless!" How could Zack be so insensitive? Won's precious orange box was no more. Where would he sleep? Most importantly, where would he do business? No other wooden box could ever match his precious orange box.

Zack backed away slowly only to find himself with his back pressed against a wall causing a picture of Lillia to become wrinkled behind it. Fearing that he would have to suffer the trauma of watching Won cry over a box, Zack tried to console him before the first tear fell and began an endless wail of agony. "Maybe I can find another one?"

"Maybe? Maybe isn't good enough and it wouldn't be the same!" Won was in near hysterics and Zack didn't know what to do.

"Um... I'll buy an apple?" Zack asked unsure. He plugged his ears and waited for the cries that didn't come. When he took his hands off his ears, Zack heard Won's familiar apple speech.

"Which one will you buy?" Won asked, after describing each apple and their super long names. Nothing cheered him up like a sale, but even then he informed Zack he fully expected him to keep his word on finding another box identical to the one that sadly perished that unlucky morning.

That wasn't the end of his bad luck as Won had a terrible day in which he didn't sell anything else. He only tried to sell apples that day as he couldn't possibly run a shop without an orange box counter. When he returned, hoping that Zack would have found another box for him by then, Won was unable to enter the shipper's house because Rick and Kai were arguing in front of it and Popuri was caught in the middle.

"She's my sister and she doesn't want to talk to you!" Rick yelled so loudly that Popuri cringed and covered her ears.

"She doesn't have to do what you say!" Kai was beginning to feel the heat of thee argument as well and raise his tone of voice. Poor Popuri was receiving the deadly sound waves left and right. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

"She agrees with me!" Rick screamed even louder and absolutely refused to let Popuri get a word in.

"She does not! I feel sorry for her because she has to put up with you as a brother! Let's go Popuri, don't listen to him!" Kai started dragging Popuri away in the direction opposite to Rick, which happened to be the dock.

"She's not going anywhere!" Rick took Popuri's arm and tried to drag her away, back to town. The two boys pulled as hard as they could while Popuri tried unsuccessfully to break free.

For a moment longer, Won watched, then he decided it was none of his business and that he should go home now that those three were out of the way. However, his luck was still bad as Zack opened the door and threw a shoe. "Shut up!"

The shoe, specifically a boot, hit Won instead of Rick or Kai. The unfortunate merchant stumbled backwards and fell off the dock into the sea. He was about to get out of the water when Rick and Kai fell on him. Popuri had pushed them both off the dock. "I'll do whatever I want!" and with that decided, Popuri left.

By some miracle Won managed to avoid drowning and so did Kai and Rick. They both immediately ran off to town to continue pestering Popuri, which would later earn each of them a handprint on the cheek.

When Won finally managed to return to Zack's house, soaking wet, cold and discouraged with life itself, he saw a ray of hope in the shape of a carpenter named Gotz. "It's fixed!" Gotz stepped aside to reveal a box, Won's box, repaired and fortified with the best wood.

"I couldn't find another box so I asked Gotz to fix that one," Zack explained.

"This is great!" Won threw himself on his precious box; to him it was the most conformable place in the world.

"Now for the bill..." Gotz's words hit Won like a ton of bricks. The world itself was truly against him that day.

End of Harvest 09

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. This one is for Simple Sun Spot and Ultra Drama Queen.

Thanks to Skaia for beta reading!


	10. Investment

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. Here's another strange possibility. Beware the 'what if' weirdness! This one is for Ekoaleko and Simple Sun Spot.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 10: Investment

She didn't mean anything when she threw that blue feather into the Kappa's pond. She was hurt and upset after being rejected and in her anger and frustration, she ran aimlessly, squeezing the feather in her hand and then, she threw it out of spite... big mistake.

"Think of it as an investment," they said. An investment? What investment? This wasn't about money, it was about her life. She wasn't sure what kind of weird investment it would be to marry the Kappa, but she did not like the deal. She still did it, or rather she was tricked, bribed and forced to do it.

Popuri was the main bride's maid. The pink haired girl spent a lot of her time talking to chickens so she didn't really mind the weirdness of the wedding. It could not be helped; she got used to talking to the chickens during the summer and soon realized what great listeners they were. Then, she started talking to them all year long, even when her brother was there to help instead of busy arguing with Kai. Chicken girl, they called her, but she didn't care. Those chickens were her best friends, the only ones that truly understood her.

When Carter declared the Kappa and Luna husband and wife, Luna walked up to the altar and banged her head against it in frustration. Her new husband followed suit. When they got home, Luna shoved the Kappa into her fish pond and with her most commanding voice she said "stay!" and the Kappa obeyed.

The days passed by and Luna only saw her husband when she went to feed him cucumbers, though she was very tempted to let him starve.

Weeks turned to seasons and a year rolled by. A tourist came wondering into her farm one day. He saw the Kappa who had sneaked out of the pond and was stupidly poking at the bee hive. Then he saw a farmer chase him back into the pond, luckily, before he could seriously disturb the bees. The tourist soon returned with his family and offered the farmer a generous amount of money if she would call out the Kappa so that his wife and children could see it. Luna accepted the deal.

In the end it really was an investment. Luna had left her life as a farmer behind and now she was the owner of the biggest tourist trap in Mineral Town. The once quiet town had become livelier and the inn was always full. Doug began to expand the inn buying land from the neighbors who moved away after becoming fed up with the noisy tourists. The villagers blamed Luna for this disarray, yet they were the ones who once told her to think of her unusual wedding as an investment. It was a profitable investment indeed, and revenge was sweet.

Luna was in fact so rich she even hired Won to work for her. After all, what's a tourist trap without overpriced, useless trinkets for sale, such as low quality kappa dolls, key chains and what not, and who could be better than Won to sell them? The underpaid, flour addicted Harvest Sprites crafted the Kappa themed goods, and Won sold them to the tourists for extravagant prices that they were happily willing to pay.

Today, Luna sat on a comfy chair in front of the TV, in her new mountain house away from the noisy, crowded, tourist trap she owned, which in the past had been a farm. The new house was made fully of golden lumber but it didn't seem to bother anyone anymore because Mineral Resort, formerly known as Mineral Town, was rich, so showing off was fine. Meanwhile the Harvest Sprites and Won slaved away to make her richer. She smiled and gently rocked the newborn heiress in her arms. A fully human child who's father was obviously not Luna's husband. "You're going to be such a happy spoiled little girl!" Maybe marrying the Kappa was the right choice after all.

End of Harvest 10

Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	11. Sharing

They both fainted on the same day; this is a slightly different version of what happened. Cliff x Farm Girl (I named her Luna.)

Mineral Moon

Harvest 11: Sharing

When she started to regain consciousness she realized that she was not alone. Luna woke to find herself sharing a bed with Cliff. It was a dream; no doubt it was one of her more mischievous dreams. She decided to enjoy it and cuddled closer.

"Luna?" Cliff had woken up as well but he had not yet recovered enough to get up. They had both fainted on the same day and the clinic only had one bed.

"Shh... don't say anything, I always wake up when you're about to ask me if I'll marry you, there's always a nice sunset and a blue feather. Let this dream last, the harvest sprites will cover for me if I oversleep."

Cliff blushed, "sleep well Luna," one day her dreams would come true...

End of Harvest 11

Disclaimer, I do not own Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town. Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	12. She's a Goddess

Mineral Moon

Harvest 12: She's a Goddess

When my cousin told me that his bride to be was a goddess, I thought he was just very much in love. When he led me to a little lake with a pretty waterfall to meet her and there was no one there, I thought she was just late. Then he picked some flowers and threw them in the lake, and there was a flash of light that made me close my eyes.

When I looked there was a woman there, apparently floating above the water. She said something about liking the offering and my cousin introduced me but somehow she already knew my name and then after she faded away he sighted happily. "I told you she was a goddess..."

"Well she was certainly pretty and a great actress, she's really got those special effects working. It's no wonder she won that goddess pageant, congratulations!"

But he thought I was joking, then he shook his head when he realized I wasn't. "No, no, those are not special effects she's a real goddess, the Harvest Goddess!"

I laughed, "right!" Then I grabbed some random flowers and threw them in the pond. She appeared again, looking a little nervous. "While we're blinded by the flash of light, she comes out of the waterfall and jumps on a small platform in the middle of the little pond so it only looks like she's floating. The rest of the time she keeps the platform hidden, there's a mechanism under the pond. Her headquarters is behind the waterfall, but no one dares go in fearing some divine punishment."

He twitches and so does she. "No, no, she's a goddess; I'm telling you she's real."

"My dear, why don't you let me speak to your cousin alone, just us girls, alright?" The so called goddess smiles nervously.

"Okay, if you say so," my cousin replies unsure and finally leaves.

"Listen girl, I don't know who you are but don't mess up my goddess thing here." She disappears behind the waterfall and returns with a big bag of money. "For your silence."

Well sure, why not? I can't expect people who lack an internet connection to be very smart, let her take advantage of the idiots who know nothing of exploiting this ridiculously rich land. I'll have mercy on my cousin, he'll be happy thinking a goddess has married him. "Hey goddess, what happens when you get too old to play the part years into the future?"

"Technically by getting married I'm giving up goddesshood to live among the mortals, but they'll still worship me anyway."

"Oh... nice... I heard there are diamonds around here..."

"Fine, fine..."

And so I saw the wedding and went home with a big bag of cash and diamonds far bigger than any that could be bought in the city, all thanks to my new sister in law who only pretended she liked flowers best.

End of Harvest 12

Disclaimer, I do not own Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town. Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	13. Cute Prequel

Mineral Moon

Harvest 13: Cute Prequel

The child was spoiled, she was told, and as the Harvest Goddess it would eventually fall upon her shoulders to find a way to make sure the girl worked. But that would not happen until later, and when one had all the time in the world, it was only natural to procrastinate. Thus the Harvest Goddess left the task for later, without thinking of the possible consequences, and for now she resolved to entertain the child left in her care with a story to help her fall sleep.

"Once upon a time, there were three little," the Harvest Goddess paused, not many farms near her ponds kept pigs, and thus she found it inappropriate to include such animals in her story. Cows had been there from the start, and so had chickens, but sheep were so cute and fluffy and counting them was known to send humans to sleep, so maybe a story about sheep would work just as well.

Taking a deep breath, the Harvest Goddess prepared to start again, while the little girl looked at her green haired babysitter curiously. "Story!"

The Goddess wondered how and why she ended up promising the girl's mother to take care of her child, but she shrugged it off. She was the Harvest Goddess, there was no such thing as getting in over her head. Right, she would continue thinking that way until proven otherwise. "Once upon a time, there were three, no, four, there were four little sheep, one, two, three, four. The first little sheep was new at building things, a rookie sheep who built a house made of straw. The second little sheep was a lazy sheep who wanted to play all day so the sheep hurried to build a house made of wood. The third little sheep was the leader, a very smart sheep that built a house out of stone. Then there was a storm and-"

"What about the forth sheep?" The little girl asked.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The forth sheep was really quiet and built a house made of..." The Harvest Goddess tried to think of a forth building material that humans used but couldn't come up with anything except "gold."

"The forth sheep was rich! The house must be shiny!" The little girl wasn't any sleepier than she was when the story started.

But the Goddess didn't give up; she still had the ending of the story to tell. "Anyway, a storm came and tore down all the houses except for the golden one, so the first three sheep went to stay at the forth sheep's house and the four little sheep, one, two, three, four, lived happily every after!"

"Does that mean that storms can break houses made of straw?" The child asked.

"Yes," the Harvest Goddess replied.

"And houses made of wood?"

"Yes."

"And even houses made of stone?"

"Yes."

"But I thought stone couldn't be broken and this house is made of wood, is it going to break too?"

"Yes... I mean no!" The Harvest Goddess was trying to make the little girl fall asleep, not give her nightmares. "This house won't break because it's special."

"Oh... okay!" The little girl jumped out of bed. "Let's play!"

"But you're supposed to be sleeping." The child was too energetic and the Harvest Goddess didn't know what to do. She shrugged, if you can't beat them, join them, "okay, let's stay up all night and play!" After all, this couldn't bring any consequences, it's not like anyone would, for example, get turned to stone or sent to another world just because this little girl didn't learn to work hard. "We'll call up the sprites, order some pizza and party until our faces turn blue!"

"Yay!" Ah the joy of children, it brought such happiness to the Goddess' heart.

End of Harvest 13

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon DS Cute. It's kind of a crossover between Mineral Town and Forget Me Not Valley, it has some Mineral Town characters so I included this story in the collection. Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	14. Teleportation

Mineral Moon

Harvest 14: Teleportation

"Ah!" She was skilled in many things such as farming and taking care of animals, but she was no skill in properly aiming when it came to teleporting. However, she didn't give up the lovely necklace that allowed her to do so.

She didn't give up when she appeared on a treetop and consequently fell from said tree. She didn't give up when she nearly drowned under the water fall. She didn't give when she landed in the Harvest Goddess pond and the Goddess, while laughing loudly, told her that she could not accept this offering.

But after landing on Gustafa, she swore she would never teleport again. While the creepy man innocently asked the farmer if she was alright, she occupied herself in screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice traveling from the turtle pond to the beach, causing her savior to run to her rescue. "Get away from her!"

Not too far from Forget Me Not Valley, in the town square of Mineral Town, a group of women would gossip the next day. "Did you know about Kai's new sandwich? The one he gave some guy in Forget Me Not?"

"A new sandwich? I haven't heard about that."

"A knuckle sandwich!" Laughter would fill the town square and no one would really feel sorry for Gustafa, because the only one creepier than him was Murrey, but Murrey was creepier than everyone.

End of Harvest 14

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon DS Cute or More Friends of Mineral Town. I did actually land on Gustafa in my game. Nothing happened, it was the same as landing next to any character, but this story came to mind. Thanks to Skaia for beta reading! 


	15. Surprising

Mineral Moon

Harvest 15: Surprising, Unexpected and Just Plain Weird

It wasn't an unusual animal in a farm, though not one I had ever raised. What could it possibly produce? Not milk, not eggs, if anything only bacon. But as delicious as the imported meat could be, I didn't feel like producing my own. After all, a farmer doesn't spend seasons brushing and petting an animal to turn around and eat it. Hence why all the meat in my house was store bought, save for the fish.

But you know; there's always that argument about fish not being meat. It seems illogical, it is meat, but I don't pet it or brush it, I only catch it. So I eat it without guilty memories, because I have no memories with the fish beyond the victory of catching them. Yet, there he was, standing near the peach tree with a pig. "I found him at the mines."

What was most shocking about this was not the fact that my husband, Kai, had found a pig at the mines, but the fact that he was at the mines in the first place. I've heard stories of other women farmers and their husbands, some had jobs and others lazed about all day, but none actually did anything on the farm, the same went for the wives of the male farmers.

I remember hearing Kai remark about how he never thought he would be doing farm work, speaking as if he were doing it now. But honestly, he wasn't, he just hung out at home and took care of his shop at the beach in the summer. It shocked me to see him come home one fall evening covered in dirt from the mines, with a rucksack full of ores and a pig following him.

"What should we do with him?" Kai continued to smile at me. I didn't know; I simply didn't know what to do with the pig. If I took care of it for a while I would get attached. Sure I eat hamburgers and friend chicken, but never one of my own, the eggs and milk yeah, but not the animals I raised. So whatever choice was going to be made, it had to be made right away. But Kai already seemed to be attached to the pig.

"I guess we could keep it as a pet." Sure why not? I had a cat and a dog as pets and my farm animals included sheep, cows, chickens and ducks. I might as well fence a small section of my farm and make a petting zoo or something. I'll put the baby animals there and children will come to pet and brush them. The parents will pay me to have their kids do my job.

"I think it's a great idea. I'll put him in the pen with the cows and sheep for now, is that okay?"

"Sure..." The idea of a petting zoo is good, so something beneficial has come out of all this weirdness. But still, I'm so surprised I'm in shock, not by the fact that there was a pig in the mines because there's all kinds of weird stuff in there, but by the fact that Kai worked in said mines. Maybe I should have him help me water the plants tomorrow.

End of Harvest 15

I had a dream where I was playing Harvest Moon and there was an event where the husband (Kai), brought a pig to the farm and he said he found in the mines. XD Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. Thanks to Skaia for beta reading!


	16. Box Farm

A day in the life of Claire when she still lived in the city.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 16: Box Farm

My name is Claire and I work at a farm, a box farm. Don't get me wrong, it's not that we grow boxes out of the ground, nor do we actually make boxes, we throw them out. Yes, I work at a box farm where we throw away boxes, after removing the office supplies from inside them I mean. It's that kind of box farm, a dreadful maze of cubicles.

Speaking of mazes I got lost. I usually took the first exit I saw out of Building A, the main entrance, to head towards the depths of cubicle hell in Building D. However, the path outside was closed by a chain and when I was prepared to jump over it or slip under it, as either would have worked, I felt a random supervisor looking at me and decided against it.

It's not like I couldn't be there at the time, but I don't think they like it when people don't take the 'proper' route to go to places even if I do have authorized access to the entire area thanks to the dog tag, I mean ID card, around my neck.

While I searched for the proper exit designated to avoid congestion in the halls, even if they were not congested in the first place, I got lost. How could I not? The vast sea of cubicles is a twisted maze full of dead ends and false turns; it reminds me of that mythological maze with some horrible monster in it.

Finally after getting out of Building A and entering Building D, I head over to my cubicle, my pathetic little space in this pathetic little world. Did I mention I hate cubicles? Yes well, I hate cubicles. My cubicle or box is very plain since I dread this place too much to try to uselessly decorate it. There's a computer, tape, a stapler, a clipboard, a bunch of sticky notes, a paper holder, and obviously the desk that holds all those items and the chair that holds my sad existence. I really do hate cubicles.

My drawers contain the usual office supplies such was folders, papers, documents, pens, paperclips, etcetera, etcetera... except liquid paper, because they forgot to give me one of those. Also scissors are unheard of here. I have never been given an explanation for the lack of scissors since I feel it is a normal office tool. This leaves me to contemplate my own wild theories about why there are no scissors. Maybe they're afraid of scissors becoming the murder weapon in our game of Clue: Life Sucks Edition. It was Claire, in cubicle ten, with the scissors!

I turn on the computer and snort. When they hired me they kept ranting about security and now here I am using a cheap computer with the grand browser Infiltrated Explorer! But of course you don't need to be an infiltrator to see all the security holes in this thing. Everyone knows Icefox is better.

I don't know if it was the cheap hardware, the cheap software, or my burning glare, but the computer locked me out. After battling with it for a while and attracting the unwanted attention of my nosy neighbors, I finally got the machine the let me into the internal email. To think I'm usually good with tools and machines, I have a computer at home and I've never had trouble with it. Maybe this one just sensed how much I hate it, because I have to perform my dreaded working routine on it, and decided to hate me back.

The morning passed and I'm off to some lunch gathering because if some random occasion that makes no difference in my life. It's not a holiday; I wouldn't be here if it was. The point is, the food that day wasn't very good and I spilled my drink. Beloved Pixel, do you betray me? It's not my fault this miserable box farm is located so close by to a Coal-Cola factory; I swear I would never be disloyal.

Then the afternoon comes and I hate my life even more than in the morning. Every last minutes drags on for an eternity and I wish so badly that the world would just explode. If that silver haired guy in the black leather from that video game doesn't destroy it soon, then I'll do it myself, because I don't want this sad excuse for a world to continue existing.

Then finally, I can go back to my apartment. But alas it is the winter season, and though it doesn't become cold enough to snow in this city, it does get dark unusually early. It's five and I already need the lights to drive back to where I live, which I will not refer to as home under any circumstances. I have a long drive ahead of me, full of city traffic and danger. I'm sure it will be past six when I arrive at my destination, and by then it will be pitch-black.

The trip was far from uneventful and even further from peaceful. I'm burning with negative emotions so strongly I feel that I'm about to rip the steering wheel right off. I speed away like a maniac, zigzagging around a truck to pass it; then come to an emergency stop at a red light so suddenly that the tires cry in pain and raise their smoke in protest.

I growl and pay my carelessness no mind; I'm too angry and know nothing of life and death. Right now to me life isn't as precious as it should be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking about suicide, I'm just displeased.

The bright lights against my tired eyes, and most of all against the cheap windshield of my car, look like lines of light instead of a point of light. It's like looking at the world behind laser bars, and I can't deny that I have joined the dark side and I'll probably never be released, at least not while it still counts. Then I drive down the middle of two lanes after turning left and don't realize until another car honks its horn.

When I arrive at that place I live at, if you can even call this living, I'm ready to make anyone who even looks at me combust with the intensity of my glare. I moved out of my parents' house so there's no one to set on fire, but I still hate my life. In frustration, I kick my shoes off and start reading the newspaper, searching darkly for a sign that someone has a worse life than mine. Then I see it, the ad that could change my life forever, and maybe even save it. It's time to trade the box farm for a real farm.

End of Harvest 16

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon, Clue or Final Fantasy VII (the reference about the silver haired guy in black leather was Sephiroth). There were other brands that were mentioned but I used fake names for those. 


	17. Light Speed in Slow Motion

Mineral Moon

Harvest 17: Light Speed in Slow Motion

Sometimes when disaster is about to strike you just know it. This fiasco has been bad from the start, good thing I don't believe in jinxes.

When I first got interviewed for this job, just a regular city desk job, there was friction in my immediate family. Dad wasn't feeling well and thus undergoing medical examinations, mother was being difficult as always, maybe even more, and my parasite of an aunt, mother's sister was being well... a parasite.

The point is the three of us, dad, mother and me, shared two cars. Dad needed to use a car for a doctor's appointment, I needed the other one for a job interview, and my idiot mother wanted to drive her useless sister around. In the end, dad moved his appointment, even if I didn't want him to and certainly didn't ask. He did it so I wouldn't have to depend on mother to take me to the interview then go off with her sister and possibly pick me up later than necessary.

Do you see the picture? Great father, useless mother, get it? That's how it's been for as long as I remember, and lately, it's been chaotic. My life was filled with the frustration of a young adult lacking the finances to move away from family idiocy and just when I thought I could save enough to achieve that goal, tragedy occurs.

Today I went to work. Let's recap shall we? I planned to tell my parents about Monday's business trip tomorrow, which is Friday, so I wouldn't have to listen to too much crap because mother's an idiot and they don't get I'm not a baby. I'll be going clear across the country into a climate different from the one I grew up with but I can handle it.

Today my dad had an operation, they finished, he went back to the house with mother and then at a time I have not been informed about the wound opened. It was supposed to be simple, in and out in a day. Sure he would be tired and half asleep, but he should recover just fine in his house. I came to find chaos.

When I left work I called the house, notice my lack of the word home, so say I'm coming so someone, mother in this case since dad usually does it but he came out of an operation today, would open the gate to the garage for me. She would protest, but it's not like she was doing anything anyway because dad always insists on taking care of himself. There was no answer from the house phone.

I drove back and let myself in, thankful that I had my keys. In retrospect, it was dad who got me my set of keys because mother would expect me to rely on having a parent open the door for me since they're retired and always there anyway. So I let myself in and changed into something more comfortable, then mother arrives and it all blows up, but I knew, I somehow knew it in the back of my mind even if I didn't listen to that little voice, that sixth sense or whatever you call it.

When I left work there was a man on a bicycle on the road. I don't know if he was reckless or suicidal, but I managed to drive safely back, though it took an amount of skill I honestly thought I didn't have. Not a minute later some guy pops out from between two cars that were parked on the side of the road and crosses the street without looking to see if cars are coming. Again I managed to avoid an accident but honestly, people need to be more careful.

Then a dog started growling at my car and running towards it. What's up with that? I've heard about dogs chasing cars but this is ridiculous, the stupid dog almost jumped under my car. That was the closest of them and it was a miracle I managed to drive by without hitting the crazy, suicidal dog. My point is, even the animals were summoning a tragedy.

About half way from work to the house I saw the remains of a car accident that must have occurred a little earlier. Pieces were scattered on the road and damaged vehicles were parked to the side with their scratched up owners making statements to the police. I kept driving and about two thirds of the way to the house, an ambulance speed by with its siren flaring. It wasn't dad, the time frame doesn't match, I don't know when it happened but I know it was earlier than that. It was just another coincidence or sign, whichever.

Now let's go to that moment in the house when it all fell apart. I found notes and food. In retrospect I can imagine dad worrying about me arriving to an empty house and not having dinner. Though it was mother's hand writing, I'm sure it was by dad's request. That's how he is, thinking of me when he should think of himself, mother isn't like that, she thinks of society and what they would say instead of thinking of happiness, she's the worse hypocrite I know.

Then mother arrives and it's all kind of fuzzy but she ranted and sort of told me what happened and I noticed the blood I didn't see before. It was all over the floor, it was that bad. Then she left after yelling at me some more and after I yelled back.

I blurted out that I was leaving. It was all so chaotic, I was going to keep my business trip quiet until the last minute, but I just exploded. I've been frustrated with my life, I hate the working world, I hate my job, I hate mother, I hate this life, I hate the lack of realistic possibilities that it will change for the better any time soon, I just lost it.

After arguing, another aunt, my father's sister, said she would let me borrow some things, a suitcase and clothes better suited for the cold climate; it never snows were I live. I was going to buy all that but everyone assumes I'm helpless and since no one can get me to the store I won't be able to get there on my own. I can get there alright, but the fact remains I don't have money so I'll have to borrow.

I wanted to buy a handheld videogame to entertain myself on the trip since I can't very well carry my PC. They're giving us laptops, but they're not for gaming and they're not even strong enough to run my games so I couldn't break the rules if I tried.

My dad never put things off because of an emergency; he took care of the emergency then picked up where he left off. I'm like that too. First the emergency needs to be taken care of; then life goes on. The chaos would be over by Saturday, I convinced myself of that, and then I could get my game and have something to do on the plane on Monday.

It's not a choice of taking care of the emergency or being selfish, it's about taking care of the emergency, then getting on with the rest. It's different; nothing would be left without getting done. But I'm surrounded by old people who drop everything when something unexpected happens and they make me so stressed. I would have my head bitten off if I snuck off to buy a game, because even if I'm only standing around, I'm expected to be there, dad would tell me to go, I know he would. But I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm ranting too much, too fast.

I've always been strong, but the people around me try so hard to pull me into their helpless state that it makes me lose it. I did, I yelled, I even cried a little but not from worry, I am not only optimistic in this particular case, regardless of my current grim outlook on life overall, but I have had it dealing with panicking idiots. Shut up, stop, don't try to drag me to your level, just stop it!

Now I wish I wouldn't have pretended to be panicky to keep the glares away and make the "you're so heartless" speeches stop, because my act threw me over the edge and though I didn't really panic, I did have a momentary stressful breakdown and quite frankly ten minutes is a pathetically long time to compose myself. Because I'm strong and level-headed and I'm better than that, and I don't want that to be an empty claim.

I hate relying on people and I only accept a select few relying on me, they have to earn it and there are not many people like that here in the city. I wonder if a nice little town, secluded from the world exists somewhere. A place that's quiet and uneventful and utterly predictable, yet strangely fun. Is there such a place somewhere? I want to find it.

I don't know how dad is. I was left behind in the rush, left to take care of the house, since they think a building needs a babysitter or something. Not that I'll go where I would just get in the way anyway, I'm not a doctor. I'll be there when he's out of the emergency room and... I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Life may be fast and chaotic here in the city, and it's all confusing, contradictive and sometimes nonsensical. It takes a while for everything to sink in, because there's always something going on, so it all blurs together into a cluttered nothingness of deliberately forgotten memories.

Life may be fast in the city, but it feels immensely slow. It's full of unpleasant events one after another and I'm tired of waiting for the good times. It's not the city's fault, nor is the city life to blame, it is the people who are at fault, the people who forgot how to take a deep breath and relax before reacting to something. I dread this life.

I'll trust dad is fine, I'll go on my trip, life will continue in a fast paced slow motion; it's torture. I wish for freedom, I wish to leave this life behind, I wish for something better. I wish for dad to recover, for mother to be the one in the hospital in his place, for mother's sister to go away and fend for herself, for father's sister to not be troubled. I wish for all this chaos to end, but that's impossible, so instead I'll wish that I gain the ability to leave it all behind one day.

End of Harvest 17

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town.


	18. Mischief Gone Wrong

Kind of OCC for the sake of humor, another crack-fic for the collection.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 18: Mischief Gone Wrong

Luna leaned over Cliff's sleeping form closer and closer each time until the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her made her jump back. "What were you going to do?" The doctor asked with a hint of jealousy.

Luna had only given him those herbs to help out; being kind was as much a second nature to her as stalking Cliff was. She didn't mean to give him false hopes or make an enemy out of Elli. "Just keeping an eye on him..."

"I better do an eye exam if you need to get that close only to keep an eye on Cliff," the doctor didn't buy it, maybe because it was a lie.

But Luna maintained a neutral face, "I was about to check for a fever..."

"If you want to check for a fever you need to put the thermometer on his mouth, not your lips," the doctor was fuming and Elli more so. "The patient needs to rest, you should go home," and thus in a fit of jealousy, Luna was kicked out of the hospital.

The farmer banged on the door and screamed about her right to see Cliff, but nothing worked. She got her axe ready and insanely chopped the door off. She saw the vengeful look in Elli's eyes and would not let her lay a finger on her Cliff. But when Luna finally got in, her face was blue in exhaustion.

"Oh no!" The doctor blamed himself and without a second thought he pushed Cliff out of the only bed in the clinic and to the waiting area, then dragged Luna over and insisting that she rested.

Cliff had not yet recovered and fell over face first on the floor. Luna watched from the corner of her yes as Elli started to drag the unconscious Cliff away. "Mine!" Wielding her hammer, Luna attacked the doctor and knocked him out in one hit. She then tackled the unconscious Cliff and clung to him.

Elli huffed, she had enough. "Fine!" She stomped out abandoning the unconscious doctor at the mercy of the aggressive farm girl who was currently blue in the face, but still awake and suffocating Cliff in a hug.

Luna was too tired to drag Cliff, and herself to a bed, so they just laid there on the floor of the clinic. "Idiot doctor," if there was only one bed, he was supposed to put her on the same bed as Cliff not throw him on the floor. Such was mischief gone wrong.

End Harvest 18

When you get the Cliff event where he faints at the square during a snowy day, if the farm girl faints too the doctor pushes poor Cliff out so that the farmer can rest in bed. Cliff faints again and Elli drags him out of the way. Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon More Friends of Mineral Town. 


	19. Rumors

I'm still getting things organized and I'm almost done getting the one shot collections sorted. I deleted the old version, this one is revised.

Mineral Moon

Harvest 19: Rumors

"I apologize," judging by the realtor's chosen way to begin his sentence and his guilty tone of voice; Clair knew it was bad news.

There was a brown haired young man wearing overalls and a cap present at the mayor's house. The mayor himself was also there. The mayor was a short man with a big mustache and a little red top hat. The realtor, a professional looking man in his early thirties, with formal clothing and well groomed blonde hair, pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat.

With a sigh, the realtor began his explanation. "This young man is Jack, the real owner of the farm. His grandfather clearly stated in his will that Jack would inherit the farm. However, his parents mistakenly assumed that he wouldn't want to work on it since he grew up in the city. At that time Jack was only sixteen, but now that he is legally an adult, he has decided to claim the farm."

The young man in with overalls and cap smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he voiced with a hand behind his back.

"It's not your fault," Clair sighed in disappointment before she could stop herself. It's not like Jack intended for this to happen, but Clair was still in a predicament. "What about my apartment?"

"It has already been resold." The realtor replied with growing guilt.

"Did you have a chance to see the state the farm is in?" Jack asked. "The last few years have not been kind to it."

"I haven't seen it yet." Clair wasn't sure if Jack was trying to console her by saying she didn't miss out on much, or if the conversation was actually going somewhere.

"It's going to take a lot of work to restore it. I might not be able to handle it on my own..." Jack paused and observed Clair's reaction.

Clair caught the hint and asked, just to be sure. "Are you offering me a job?"

Jack nodded. "That way you can work on a farm too, just like you planned."

Clair smiled; maybe things were not turning out so badly after all. "That would be great!" Though she still didn't know where she would live.

As if on cue, the realtor answered Clair's silent question. "There is a plot of land for sale in this town."

"We also have a good carpenter who could build a house," the mayor added.

"Sounds like a plan to me, I saw that there's an inn too, I'll live there until my house is done and work at the farm." It was settled and it wasn't too different from Clair's original plan, except for not owning the farm.

xoxox xox xoxox

On that very same day, Clair headed to see Gotz to build her house. Though she had only spent a few hours in town so far, she knew right away that rumors traveled fast. People were talking about a guy named Kai and how he upset Gotz by painting his shop white. Everyone who walked by as Clair and Jack headed to Gotz's house, was taking about Kai and his white shop at the beach. Clair learned that Kai only came to Mineral Town during the summer and upset a guy named Rick, but most importantly she leaned not to paint her house white. She wasn't sure what was wrong with that color, but she might as well try to fit in.

Upon arriving at the farm, Clair was suddenly glad she didn't own it. It was a huge mess of rocks, branches and weeds, so many weeds! "This is..."

"It's in pretty bad shape, isn't it?" It didn't seem to take away any of Jack's energy, he was ready to get to work. "The mayor said we should get to know the town's people first, so I think we should start working tomorrow, and you'll probably be busy today anyway arranging things for your house and all."

"I think it's best that way," Clair agreed. "I'll be here to work bright and early tomorrow, and maybe we can get this weed farm to look like an actual farm." Clair and Jack both laughed as they walked across the farm towards the bridge. Gotz's house was just south of the farm across the river.

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Even if buying all that lumber was expensive, in the end it was a pretty good deal since Gotz would not only build the house, but also provide basic furniture, and Clair was in no position to be too picky.

After everything was arranged, Clair and Jack went their separate ways for the day, going around Mineral Town and meeting new people. Clair was getting registered for a room at the inn when she first saw him. He looked cute and a little shy; he caught her attention right away. Clair decided that it was as good a time as ever to greet her neighbor, since it looked like he was staying at the inn too.

After dropping off what little luggage she brought in her room, she started walking towards the next door and stopped. She couldn't just barge into a stranger's room and say 'hi, you look like a nice guy so I want to get to know you.' It was a bit too straightforward, especially for someone who appeared to be so shy.

"Want to meet your neighbors?" Ann cheerfully asked. Clair had been so focused on her thoughts, that she didn't even hear Ann chatting away as she walked next to her.

"Um... yeah," Clair's reply, tone and expression revealed that she hasn't been paying attention. She thought she saw Ann roll her eyes before knocking on the door.

A young man with blond hair and blue eyes opened the door. "Hi Ann, did you need anything?"

"No, I just wanted to introduce your new neighbor." Ann introduced the two. His name was Gray and he was working to become a blacksmith.

Gray then called his roommate. "Cliff, come meet our new neighbor." Ann had looked as if she was fine introducing Gray to Clair, but had no intentions of introducing Cliff, so Gray did. "This is Cliff, he's new here too."

"Hello, nice to meet you," Cliff quietly voiced. Clair instantly thought he was adorable.

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Much to Ann's dismay, Gray, Cliff and Clair ended up having dinner together that night. Cliff was quiet and hardly responded when Clair tried to make friendly conversation, but he did smile a little. After dinner, Cliff returned to his room leaving Clair alone with Gray. "It must be what they call love at first sight."

Gray's voice got Clair out of her thoughts. "What?"

He laughed in good humor. "You and Cliff, I mean."

Gray had noticed the way Clair looked at Cliff, curious to get to know him. "That's going a little too far. Besides, he doesn't seem to like me. I don't think he's even interested in being my friend."

Gray shook his head. "It's not like that, he's just really shy. I thought he was dreading the day he got stuck with me for a roommate so I just asked him. He said he didn't mean to look as if he found me unpleasant, and that he thought I was a good friend. Then he avoided me for a week but made it a point to make himself smile whenever he couldn't avoid me. It took a while for us to talk more or less normally. If he's that shy with me, I can only imagine how much more shy he'll be to a girl. Just take things slowly and try to let him get to know you. He usually hangs out at the church when he's not here."

Clair understood right away and smiled. It seemed that Gray thought Cliff should try to make more friends and maybe Clair could be his friend. The message was clear, if Gray was telling Clair where to find Cliff, that was like telling her to go talk to him, and that she would do.

xoxox xox xoxox

As time passed, Clair and Cliff became closer friends and she started to like him more and more. Clair had developed a friendship with Gray and Mary as all; she knew they liked each other too. Ann was not very fond of Clair, at least Gotz finished her house in record time and she was able to move into it soon. Clair had developed a sibling relationship with Jack, though due to the fact that she spent most of her time with him, people started to get the wrong idea.

Clair didn't have too much work to do really. At first she was quite busy with the farm and only had a little free time to spend with Cliff. Then, everything seemed to flow and the farm practically ran itself, with some help from the Harvest Sprites. Clair finished her chores pretty early and didn't need to do too much farm work.

Every week she would go to the super market, buy groceries and plenty of flour. Deliver the flour to the Harvest Sprites, making sure to alternate between which three she hired every week. Jack and the sprites took care of the farm and Clair did random little tasks here and there. In all honesty, she could finish all her daily chores in the morning alone and still have time to spare. Clair didn't really have any complaints about it, since that meant she could spend the afternoon with Cliff.

When summer came, Cliff was starting to become a little distant towards Clair, and she didn't know why. She decided that maybe he just needed some space and she was trying too hard to get him to talk a little more about himself. It seemed Jack was also having troubles with Ann. He sat on the grass next to Clair, in front of the fishpond looking disappointed. She immediately noticed the big, red, handprint on his cheek. "What happened to you?"

"I asked Ann over to dinner and she said she didn't like me. She said she..." Jack paused, unsure if he should continue.

"What did she say?" Clair asked in a gentle tone, trying to console her fellow farmer.

"She said she likes Cliff, she said she doesn't like players like you and me." Jack stared at the fishpond as he spoke.

Clair was in shock, not because of Ann liking Cliff, she already knew that, but because of what she said. Obviously Ann must have been very upset. "Players like us?" Clair questioned.

"There have been a lot of rumors going around. Ann mentioned that someone told her we were a couple, but cheated on each other all the time. I don't know why she believed it, people seemed to understand we're simply working together before. Why did this happen now?" The entire rumor felt as wrong to Jack as it did to Clair.

True that the two farmers were not actually related, but they had come to think of each other as siblings. "I'm going to straighten out this mess." Clair got up and walked out of the farm, past the mailbox and dog house. Jack's puppy ran to his owner, a bit frightened, as if sensing her angered aura.

Whoever it was that started the rumor, this person was ruining Clair's relationship with Cliff and Jack's relationship with Ann. Just when Clair thought Ann was beginning to like Jack and would finally leave her Cliff alone.

xoxox xox xoxox

"It's golden service hour!" In her haste, Clair nearly ran into Won, a merchant who often visited the farm to sell his overpriced apples to Jack. Though she was rather fond of him and his golden service hour, she was not in the mood right now.

"Later Won, I need to have a word with Ann and track down an evil rumor starter of doom, who will be doomed!" Clair walked past Won and stomped her way to the inn.

"Oh, oh..." Won gulped and bolted out of there, Clair wasn't sure why.

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Ann wasn't really in the mood to talk and Doug didn't look too happy that Clair was there. The general atmosphere was not very nice. "There's nothing to talk about." Ann had said nothing more than that.

"Please make your purchase quickly and if you don't need anything, I'll have to ask you to leave." Clair was surprised by Doug's words; that was no way to treat customers. She turned around and left without even replying, she had to see Cliff.

xoxox xox xoxox

When Clair arrived at the church, Cliff was in his usual seat. He shifted uncomfortably and avoided her gaze. "Cliff, don't tell me you've heard the rumors too? It's not true!"

"I... um..." Cliff looked away clearly uncomfortable. "You've been very nice to me... I just..."

"I'm going to fix this," Clair assured him with solid determination, but where to start? Clair noticed that Carter wasn't in his usual place at the church, that's when she remembered, she had arrived just in time to confess. Maybe Carter could offer some advice about the situation. Clair took a deep breath and entered the confessionary.

"What do you wish to repent for?" It was as if Carter knew right away, or rather he expected her to say she wanted to confess. Of course, with all the rumors going around, she couldn't just be there to say hi.

"The townspeople don't like me," Clair confessed. Before Carter could reply, she continued, "and I know why. It's because someone started a rumor about Jack and me. I tried to ask Ann about it and she refused to talk. Why did they believe it so easily? Jack and I have been working together on the farm since spring and it wasn't until now that the rumor stated. I want to clear this up, any advice?"

Carter paused; he was taken by surprise by Clair's elaborate confession. He took a deep breath, "If the townspeople don't like you, there must be a reason. Maybe the person who started the rumor had a reason to do it as well. Either way, if you don't do things that are misleading, then the rumors will not last. I'm sorry to say that the Harvest Goddess has not forgiven you. That's all for now, have a nice day."

"But you haven't told me what I should do!" Clair insisted.

Carter sighed and repeated himself. "Please understand; the Harvest Goddess has not forgiven you."

Clair remained rooted to the spot, waiting for a straight answer. "I was getting along so well with Cliff. I really like him and I thought he was starting to like me too. Jack seemed to finally be making a little progress with Ann as well. I don't want to lose Cliff and I'm not letting some rumor take him away from me."

"You have a lot of determination but the Harvest Goddess has not forgiven you. Have a nice day." Carter spoke slowly, emphasizing every word.

Grumbling about the terrible fate the one who started the rumor would suffer, Clair left the confessionary. Cliff was there, looking a little embarrassed. "I... I'm not going to believe the rumors..."

"Thank you Cliff." As long as Cliff believed her, Clair felt that everything would be okay. She had no idea he heard every word she said in the confessionary.

xoxox xox xoxox

Clair decided to go to the library to try to relax and clear her head. Mary was in her own little world writing her novel. It took a few minutes for her to realize that there was someone else in the library looking at the books. "Hello, sorry I didn't see you." Mary seemed surprised that Clair didn't greet her on your way in, as she usually did.

"It's okay; I didn't want to disturb you. You heard, didn't you?" Clair was pretty sure Mary heard; rumors traveled fast in that town.

Mary nodded, "I didn't believe it." At least Mary knew Clair well enough. "Gray doesn't believe it either."

Clair smiled; she could still count on Mary and Gray. "I'm going to find out who started that rumor and do something about it. I don't know why it happened so suddenly. We were fine during the spring, then suddenly, this rumors starts, right in the middle of summer."

Clair paused, as did Mary. "Kai!" They both exclaimed at same time. He was only in town during the summer so he was the most obvious suspect. With no time to waste, Clair headed for the beach.

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Jack was sitting at the docks fishing, while his puppy played by himself at the beach. The farmer was so lost in thought he didn't notice the line being pulled. Clair went over there and took the fishing rod from him. She reeled in a big fish and gave it to Jack. "Don't forget to real them in or they'll get away."

"Huh? Oh yeah, fish." Jack was really out of it. "Everyone's mad at me."

"Don't worry, I'll fix this." Clair marched to Kai's shop.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Do you think that's why he left?" Zack asked.

"He has been telling crazy stories lately." Kai replied.

"Who are you talking about?" They both jumped at Clair's sudden voice. "Is this about the person who started the rumors about me and Jack?"

Kai and Zack looked at each other. Maybe Kai was innocent after all. "Let's not jump to conclusions, the stories he was telling were nothing like the rumors," Zack stated.

"Yeah, the rumors could be true, but the stories Won was telling? No way!" Kai agreed.

"Won!" Clair remembered what happened when she bumped into him earlier and rushed out of the shop. She would find Won and get the truth out of him, in any way needed.

xoxox xox xoxox

Clair's search for Won proved fruitless. She had no idea where he went but she didn't give up, she was just tired from running around so much. Her face was turning blue, but she didn't care. Clair had lost count of how many times she walked around town in circles, hoping to see the merchant trying to sell apples door to door, but she had no luck.

Then she saw Cliff walking from the church back to the inn. "Cliff..." Clair smiled at him; maybe talking to him would make her feel better. Clair thought she heard Cliff call her name, before the world faded into darkness.

xoxox xox xoxox

When she woke up, Clair realized that she was not in her room. She slowly sat up and tried to recognize her surroundings, she was in the hospital. Elli quietly came in and saw that Clair was awake. "Are you feeling better? I'll get the doctor." Before Clair could say anything, Elli was out of the room.

Clair tried to get up and noticed that there was something on her hand, it was another hand. She blinked and stared in disbelief, there was Cliff, sleeping in a chair while holding her hand. "Cliff!" She couldn't stop herself and gave him a hug.

Doctor and Elli soon entered the room. "Yes, it was Cliff who found you and brought you here," Doctor explained. "He also told us not to believe those rumors..."

Elli nodded. "Earlier I went to the library to borrow some books for grandma, Mary and Gray said the same thing."

Clair was happy that she could count on her friends to help her clear up those crazy rumors. She hugged Cliff so much he started to turn blue. Clair immediately loosened her grip when she saw the unnatural color and watched as his face changed from blue to red. "Thank you Cliff, you saved my life."

"I only brought you here," Cliff shyly replied.

"I appreciate it a lot. Not just for bringing me here, but for choosing to believe me." Now Clair loved Cliff even more.

Elli pulled Doctor out of the room. He kept saying something about Clair's examination, but Elli told him it could wait.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Clair had rested and recovered, it was time to continue her search for Won. However, she deiced to go see the Harvest Goddess first. It was clear that Clair would need all the luck she could get if she was going to solve this mystery any time soon. Clair was quite surprised to see that Won was right there, next to the Goddess' pond. "Won!" She gave him a threatening glare. "Were you the one who started the rumors about me and Jack?"

"I didn't do it!" Won backed away.

"I heard Zack and Kai talking about a story you made up. You could be the one spreading the rumors too." It all made sense. Won liked Clair, even if she had made it clear that she liked Cliff and could only offer him a friendship.

"It wasn't me!" Won continued to back away from Clair, fearing for his life, until he fell into the pond and in a flash the Harvest Goddess appeared with a soaking wet Won in her arms. "Thank you for making an offering, and a big offering it was! I'm afraid, I cannot accept this offering, but I appreciate the thought. Is there someone you like?"

"Yes, and the rumors Won started are getting in the way!" Clair pointed an accusing finger at Won, who seemed to have forgotten about her existence.

"I heard about that and I know who started them," The Harvest Goddess revealed.

"It was Won, right?" Clair asked.

The Harvest Goddess shook her head and put Won down. "No, the story he's been telling people is a different one. I heard him walking around and talking to himself, wondering what kind of offering he should make. I guess he wanted my help in clearing his name."

Won nodded eagerly. "That's it! The story I've been telling is completely true! I saw the Kappa in town!"

"You see, it was the Kappa who started the rumors because he has a crush on you." The Harvest Goddess explained.

Clair stood there, wide eyed and open mouthed. "The Kappa likes me? But he's not even human! Carter said so when I was joking about wanting to marry the Kappa." Carter, he knew! He knew about the Kappa and he knew that the Harvest Goddess knew. The Kappa must have confessed that he liked Clair, but Carter couldn't tell her. He was trying to tell her to go ask the Harvest Goddess instead. "It was only a joke; I'm in love with Cliff!" As Clair declared her affection at the top of her lungs, Cliff had just arrived. "Cliff!" She blushed as much as he did.

"Um... I... I wanted to give the Harvest Goddess an offering. I thought she could help clear things up. I was trying to help... er... I'll just go wait over there." Distracted, embarrassed, yet smiling, Cliff absentmindedly backed away and fell into the hot spring.

"Cliff!" Clair rushed to help him get out.

"Hey, offerings go over here!" The Harvest Goddess pointed at her pond.

There was no way Clair would give up Cliff, not even to the Harvest Goddess. "Cliff is not an offering!" Clair lost her footing on the wet rocks around the hot spring and instead of helping Cliff get out, she fell in.

The Harvest Goddess laughed. "I'm only kidding, but honestly, making me laugh this much was a great offering. Anyway, I have to go now, bye." She disappeared and her amused laughter faded.

"What about me? Why can't you accept me as an offering?" Won threw himself into the Harvest Goddess' pond but she didn't appear again. Feeling frustrated, Won got out. Clair knew that would be the end of golden service hour, after the Harvest Goddess stole Won's heart. By then, she and Cliff had also managed to get out of the hot spring. So it had been the Kappa who started the rumors. It was time to pay him a visit.

xoxox xox xoxox

After telling Jack the story, he gladly gave Clair some cucumbers to summon the Kappa and offered to tag along. However, he did advice that Clair and Cliff, should change into some dry clothes before they caught a cold. Needless to say, people would come up with all sorts of crazy rumors to explain why Clair and Cliff were wet in the first place. Clair had to admit, the truth was a little hard to believe.

xoxox xox xoxox

Clair and Cliff both changed into dry clothes and went with Jack to see the Kappa. After throwing a few cucumbers in the Kappa's pond, the green creature came out of hiding. "It's nice to see you've finally come to visit me, but why did you bring so many friends?" Cliff had to hold Clair back, to stop her from strangling the Kappa, while Jack tried to talk some sense into him. It seemed that the Kappa finally understood and confessed he was originally in love with the Harvest Goddess but she didn't return his feelings.

"I heard that!" Everyone turned to see Won. He was standing a little far from the group, but still within earshot. "She wouldn't accept me as an offering either..."

Kappa gave Won a look of understanding. "I guess we're both the same. Why don't we go to the inn and drown away our broken hearts? I heard they have some really good local wine. I prefer cucumbers, but maybe Ann can put some cucumbers in my drink, she's such a nice girl."

Won accepted the invitation. "Count me in, I prefer my wine without cucumbers, but you're right, Ann is so nice. It's almost time for the bar to open."

As Clair, Cliff and Jack, watched Won and Kappa walk away, Jack suddenly came to a realization. "That's my Ann you're talking about!" He wasn't going to give up on winning her heart and not an apple merchant or a kappa would stand in his way.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the fall season came, Jack had already won Ann's heart and Mary and Gray were still together. Doctor and Elli appeared to be getting along pretty well too. The Kappa seemed to have given up on falling in love with humans, and decided to wait until he met a girl kappa. Won was still love sick, he claimed he would love the Harvest Goddess forever, and never give up. Other than that, everything was alright in the world, until one day Cliff told Clair he might be leaving soon. He was running out of money and couldn't continue staying at the inn. She didn't want him to leave, there had to be something she could do.

That morning, Clair went to see the Harvest Goddess. By some miracle she actually managed to get there before Won. Getting up so early was worth it after all, she threw some flowers into the pond and waited for the Harvest Goddess to appear. Nothing happened. Good thing Clair brought some extra flowers, just in case. She threw in some more flowers but still nothing happened. "Come out already!" That did it, the Harvest Goddess finally appeared after hearing her voice.

"Sorry it took so long, I thought it was Won. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, but a little too insistent." The Harvest Goddess explained. A detail that caught Clair's attention was that she was not floating above her pond but instead had landed next to her. "I need a vacation."

"Cliff needs a job, the world is ironic." Clair sighed and sat on the grass.

She was surprised when the Harvest Goddess sat down next to her. "Ironic indeed, I would let him have my job while I'm on vacation, but for the job of Harvest Goddess being a woman is required."

"And a goddess," Clair added.

"Not necessarily. A human woman once filled in for me years ago. I think it's been about a thousand years since that time. I'm long overdo for a vacation. Either way, Cliff's problem isn't hard to solve. He should just marry you," the Harvest Goddess suggested.

As much as Clair liked the idea, she knew it wouldn't work. "I don't think he's ready" and quite frankly ,neither was Clair. She didn't exactly make a fortune, but you she still felt guilty because she knew Jack was better off hiring the Harvest Sprites, they worked for flour and it was far more economical to hire them than Clair. True that, they couldn't go to the grocery store, the shelves were too high for them, but Clair always finished those chores in the morning. As much as she liked having some extra time to spend with Cliff, she felt like she wasn't giving Jack a fair deal, even if he would never say such a thing. Clair was contemplating getting a part time job in the afternoons.

"I have an idea." The Harvest Goddess announced. "It looks like you always finish your work in the mornings and don't really do much in the afternoons, except spend time with Cliff." The Harvest Goddess certainly knew a lot of things, but then again, this was something that most people in Mineral Town knew.

"That's true," Clair admitted. "I was thinking about getting a part time job in the afternoons." Clair couldn't just quit her job at the farm, there were still those little chores that the Harvest Sprites couldn't handle. Besides, Jack would think she was mad at him or something.

"Excellent, I was thinking about giving you a job." Clair couldn't believe the words that the Harvest Goddess had spoken. "I take it your shocked, yet happy expression means you accept?"

"Yes!" Clair cheered, then remembered why she really came, it was for Cliff, so he could stay. "Wait, I would rather find a job for Cliff, that way he'll agree to staying in Mineral Town."

"No problem, yesterday after Won left, Duke came by and offered a wine bottle with a flier attached." The Harvest Goddess seemed to produce the flier out of thin air. "Take a look."

Clair received the flier and smiled, Aja Winery needed some help. With any luck, they would be convinced to keep Cliff as a full time worker and he would stay in town. In fact, Clair might as well take the goddess job too. "Thank you! This is great and if you haven't changed your mind about that goddess job, I'll take it too!"

"Great, in that case, come back later after Won leaves and I'll explain all the details." So it was settled, Cliff would work at the winery and Clair would work for the Harvest Goddess.

xoxox xox xoxox

After telling Cliff the good news and finishing all her farm chores, Clair went back to the Harvest Goddess' pond but Won was still there. He was trying to serenade the Harvest Goddess and singing quite horribly. Karen would kick him for being so off key. Clair left and came back later, but he was still there. Clearly, Won had no intentions of leaving.

Clair returned to the farm and paced around until Zack arrived to pick up the farm's products. Jack had gone to see Ann. "Are you alright?" Zack asked.

"I'm fine, Won isn't and neither is the Harvest Goddess. Can a goddess suffer a nervous breakdown?" Clair was beginning to wonder and if she didn't do something about it soon, she was going to find out the hard way.

Zack knew what this was about right away. "Won's singing can drive anyone to insanity. He asked me to listen to him rehearse. I tried to tell him singing to the Harvest Goddess was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen. I guess my advice doesn't count since I never won her heart. But that wasn't my fault, I was so young and she... never mind." Clair was sure that Zack wasn't talking about the Harvest Goddess, but she wasn't sure about who he was talking about. She had a feeling it was someone from town. "Anyway, I need to get going now."

"See you tomorrow." After Zack left, Clair got an idea. If Won wouldn't listen to Zack, maybe he would listen to someone who had been more successful in love, but she didn't really feel great about asking Jack or Gray to lecture Won, that's when Cliff arrived, Clair adored him and everyone knew that.

"Hi, I finished work and came to see you; you're always coming to see me so I thought I should come too." Cliff was so cute blushing like that and being all shy. "I didn't find you at your house, so I was wondering if you were still working. Are you too busy?"

"I'm not busy," Clair should be busy, but she couldn't go to goddess training with Won unintentionally insulting the fine art of music. "I do have a favor to ask," It was rather embarrassing, but she needed to have mercy on that poor goddess.

"Sure, anything!" Clair was happy that Cliff was so eager to help, but it still felt like an odd thing to ask.

"I was thinking we could rescue the Harvest Goddess." Just as Clair expected, Cliff gave her a puzzled look and she explained. "Won still has a crush on her and right now he's over by her pond singing horribly off key. Zack tried to talk him out of it, but Won went through with his serenade anyway. The truth is I haven't been able to talk to her about my part time job yet. I thought, maybe, we could give her a hand. Maybe if you talk to Won, you know, man to man, he'll listen."

"I understand, I'll try my best, but heartbreak must be so hard to deal with." Cliff agreed to help but he did have a point.

Clair nodded, "yes but isn't it best to help him understand now, instead of letting him continue like that?"

"You're right," Cliff agreed.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Cliff got Won to leave, the Harvest Goddess finally came out. "I have the worse headache! Let's get the explanations out of the way; being the Harvest Goddess isn't really all that hard. The crops will grow by themselves so even if you're the Harvest Goddess, you don't really need to do much for the harvest to take place. People will occasionally come to you with offerings. You must accept those offerings and sincerely say if you liked the offering or not, you can also be neutral about it. After receiving about ten or so offerings, ask people if there's someone they like. You can't really make people fall in love, but rather awaken their feelings if they are already there. I enjoy playing rock, paper, scissors, so I will continue broadcasting my show while I'm on vacation, you don't need to worry about that. I'm going to let you borrow this magic mirror." The Harvest Goddess handed Clair a golden mirror, with flower designs in the back made of precious jewels. "All you have to do is look into it and concentrate in looking like a goddess, then you will. This is also a convenient way to get changed after your morning work and get your hair done really fast. I will make the announcement that I'm leaving you in charge. I'll be back next spring. Any questions?"

"Yes, the part about helping people with the one they like, how do I do that?" If Clair knew, she could have started by helping herself, but her relationship with Cliff was slowly making progress so she couldn't really complain. It seemed that Carter, Duke and Manna thought Clair and Cliff made a cute couple and they played matchmaker every chance they got lately.

"Rumors, my dear, rumors are the key!" Clair stared at the Harvest Goddess and she couldn't help it but to be amused. "Let me explain, I can't really make people fall in love, I can only make them realize they like each other if the feelings are already there. To do this I spread rumors. For example if Mary told me she likes Gray I would spread rumors that Mary likes Gray. He will hear about it and if he likes her back, he'll be happy and like her more. Also if people think they are a good match, they might join in and try to help them get together. There's no secret to it, just rumors."

The sheer shock of Clair's expression was priceless. "Rumors? That's it? I never thought... That was... I... I can't believe this." It was hard to speak coherently after finding out that the Harvest Goddess wasn't so godly after all. Well she could appear out of a pond, float, and make items appear and disappear, but to rely on rumors? "Is your entire information network based on rumors? How you know people's names, and all those things?"

"Yes," The Harvest Goddess admitted. "To be honest, I don't think magical powers should be used to achieve something that can be achieved by other means. Besides, this way it's a lot easier to find a replacement when I'm going on vacation."

"What about coming out of the pond and all of that? I don't think I can do it, unless there's another trick to it that no one knows about." If there was a trick, Clair missed it, because at least that part looked like magic to her.

"There's no trick to that, it's magic. You can skip the floating around, it's just for show. I think that pretty much covers it. Anything else?" The Harvest Goddess was anxious to leave on her vacation.

Clair thought about it for a moment, "I guess that's all."

"Good, then don't forget to come by tomorrow afternoon. It's about time I got a schedule and it will start with you. Even the Harvest Sprites have a schedule and close their hut during holidays."

xoxox xox xoxox

After rescuing Cliff from Won's rambles and leaving Won at Zack's house, although she felt sorry for Won, and most of all for Zack, Clair and Cliff went for a walk along the beach. She was telling him about her new part time job and made sure to remind him to keep the Harvest Goddess' methods a secret. She figured it was as good a time as any to test the mirror. Clair looked into it and thought goddess, but her mind was more on Cliff than it was in looking like a goddess so she couldn't focus enough to activate the mirror. "It didn't work."

"I think it did," Cliff smiled.

"I look the same," Clair noticed no changes in her reflection. She was still wearing the same clothes and her hair was the same as well.

"You've always been a goddess to me," Cliff replied.

Clair's heart beat faster hearing those words. "I love you Cliff!"

"I love you too." That night they kissed under the stars, staying out late and Cliff ended up getting locked out of the inn, who knows, maybe it was done on purpose to see if he would stay over at Clair's house and he did.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time winter arrived, the town's people had finally assimilated the idea of the Harvest Goddess taking a vacation and leaving a replacement to do her job. Clair never knew spreading rumors was so useful; of course she had to be careful to spread the right kind of rumors.

Going to the town square every other afternoon proved to be a useful source of information, and new people hardly ever visited the town, so there weren't that many people to work for. All in all, things were going great.

Clair and Cliff went to Jack and Ann's wedding near winter's end. Doctor had thought about leaving town, but later changed his mind and decided to stay; he and Elli still liked each other. Gray and Mary were now engaged and would be married in the spring.

Won eventually recovered and was once again cheerfully selling his apples and other merchandise. Clair and Cliff had grown closer and were very much in love. They still saw each other everyday, in the morning before work, they had lunch together, and spent every moment together after work. Clair even got him to stay over a few times.

When spring returned, Gray and Mary got married. The Harvest Goddess came back and decided to keep Clair as her assistant. Cliff still worked full time at Aja Winery and Clair worked at the farm in the morning and for the Harvest Goddess in the afternoon, with plenty of time in between to see Cliff.

Being so well informed about the rumors of Mineral Town, Clair knew that the supermarket operated in a similar fashion in terms of blue feathers. They knew when to put a feather for sale and they knew who would come to buy it. Clair knew when they put a feather out for Jack to give Ann, she knew when the next feather was for Gray to give Mary, and she knew that new blue feather that had recently arrived was for Cliff, or maybe more for Clair than for Cliff, he was the shy one and she was the one who usually took the first step.

Clair had a strong feeling that he would accept, it seemed that everyone somehow knew. She purchased the blue feather and later presented it to Cliff, he happily accepted and just as summer had begun, Clair and Cliff got married.

xoxox xox xoxox

Fall was now ending and rumors were still flying. They say that the girl who became a goddess and the boy who makes fine wine worthy of one, are expecting a baby.

End of Harvest 19

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. 


	20. The Domino Effect

Moving things around, organizing my one-shots into collections... yeah.

She was a city girl, until an argument with her boyfriend led to an argument with her parents, which led to a breakup, and it all ended with her running away to her brother's farm. ClairxKai

The Domino Effect

Clair's Perspective

When the summer ended and fall began, he returned to the city as he always did. He didn't get along with his family, so he left every summer. It seemed that the Shore Shack, his little restaurant in a distant town which I did not know the name of, was not doing well enough to live on all year long. Secretly, I was relived, because that would mean Kai would always return at summer's end.

In the fall we would meet to catch up. I would tell him about what happened in the city, about the movies I watched during the summer, what videogames I played, an update from civilization. Kai would always say that "nothing ever happens in that small town" and talk about how "time moves slowly in that town". The town remained eternally nameless, but I didn't care.

The seasons went by until spring was about to end. The two of us were at my family's apartment hanging out in my room, the door left open to avoid yelling from my parents.

Parents often took the parents' side without listening to any other point of view, and thus they didn't exactly like Kai, since he didn't get along with his parents. If anything, it made me like him more.

My parents liked to pretend I had some sort of stupid attachment to them. I live with them out of necessity only, because I don't have the money to make it on my own just yet. Just wait 'till I find a decent job, I'll jet as soon as I save enough.

I suppose their belief comes from an incident that happened two years ago when my brother bought a farm and moved to the country while I stayed in the city. I could have gone with him and the reason I stayed here was because of the city itself, definitely not because of my parents.

Kai told me he was leaving again. It came as no surprise, he would leave the next day and I knew it. He was visiting me to say goodbye until the summer ended. "Do you have to leave every summer?"

"You know I can't stand to live with my family all year long," yes, I did know. I was in the same situation and it would get worse when he was gone. I would have no one to rant to who understood exactly where I was coming from and everything would just stay completely bottled up 'till summer's end.

"I know how that feels," and as the words escape my lips, I feel a precense; the unwelcome precense of my overly dramatic mother. She yells, screams and rants and practically chases Kai away, convinced that he made me hate her, when in fact it is because of him that I haven't run away to my brother's farm yet.

Ignoring my parents' complaints, I forcefully push my mother and father out of the way and chase after Kai. I dash towards him and get in the elevator, the doors closing before my parents can reach us. We keep the elevator going up and down non-stop to have some time to talk in the enclosed space. "They really hate me."

"Who cares," I huff. "I'm the only one who needs to like you, right?"

"Right," if not for Kai, I wouldn't put up with all of this.

"Hey Kai, where do you go all the time anyway? What's your business like? Maybe I can help out." It was an innocent offer really.

"Ah well..." He looks away, staring into the elevator doors.

"Kai," I call softly, wondering why he's stalling.

"It's boring, you wouldn't like it," Kai mutters.

For some reason that really bothered me, "it can't be that bad if you go back every summer."

Kai takes a deep breath, "remember how we agreed that neither of us like secrets and that we'll be honest with each other?" I nod and feel as if he's about to drop a bomb on me. "Well, if you're thinking about running away to tag along with me, I don't think that's such a good idea."

I simply stare at him. "Why?"

"It will be troublesome when you return. They'll think I'm an evil kidnapper or something," Kai reasoned.

"Yeah you're right," I sounded more upset than I intended.

"Don't get mad, you're making it sound like I'm abandoning you," now Kai was getting upset too, because I was upset.

"It's not like you're helping me escape," the thought of Kai having another girl graced my mind. That's what people said and my parents repeated it like circus parrots.

"It's not like I have to," Kai sounds annoyed, well I'm annoyed too.

"It's not like you care," I growl in return.

"You're making it sound more serious than it is," the elevator button finally stops at the first floor and opens.

My father runs towards us and I slam my finger on the button again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just that," Kai tries to find a way to word it but I'm growing impatient.

"Give it to me straight," I demand.

"Well, we're not that serious..." I feel like punching him and it takes every ounce of will power in me not to.

"Fine," I punch the elevator button for my floor and step out, my mother wastes no time in grabbing my arm and trying to drag me to the apartment. I shake her off violently. "Don't touch me!"

She intensifies her melodrama and directs it full force at Kai. "I'm leaving," he looks positively fed up.

I give my words no thought and out of spite I yell, "don't bother coming back!" Then I push my mother out of the way and lock myself in my room.

xoxox xox xoxox

Much to my disdain, I realize that I do not possess a proper traveling storage device. Thus the next day after a horrible night of getting lectured, I go off to buy it. Getting out of the apartment was a nightmare, getting out for good will be worse. They saw me coming back with a suspiciously large backpack, which happened to be empty. I'm sure they wanted to throw it away and I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I'm not their property so they can't keep me here. But I can play their game and I can fake their drama.

They went to sleep thinking I had changed, that I had stupidly admitted I was in the wrong, even if I wasn't, and would go see a family therapist with them the next day. Of course, I won't be around by the time they wake up. I pretended to sleep early and locked myself in my room to pack. After I had the essentials and a little money, I left before the sun raised and called a taxi.

The taxi ride ended at a bus stop further along the way. I wanted to take the cheaper bus ride since I didn't have a lot saved up, but I didn't want to wait until the first bus arrived to start putting distance between me and that place so I started on the taxi then waited at the bus stop at a decent hour in the morning.

I had locked the door of my room and closed it. They'll think I locked myself in, that should buy me some extra time just in case. Then when they finally break in, they'll only find a note. "I'm not coming back so don't bother looking for me." I signed my name at the bottom then added a little note at the end, "PS: Just so you know, I'm not with Kai." I'm mad at him, but I don't hate him enough to drag him into this mess.

I took the first bus at seven in the morning and at eight I had gone pretty far. As I waited for the next bus, my hair tugged into an old baseball cap that used to belong to my brother and eyes shielded with sunglasses, I called the number my brother had left. It wasn't really his phone number; it was the number of a local hotel, or inn as they called them in those tiny country towns. He said it was only for emergencies and this was an emergency. Other than that, we communicated through written mail.

"Good morning, this is Doug's Inn, how may I help you?" A man answered, at least I knew the number was correct and I could only hope that it was true that in those little towns everyone knew everyone and this man knew my brother.

"Hello, my brother left me this number. His name is Jack, do you know him?" It could make things extremely difficult if I can't locate my brother.

"Ah, yes, Jack!" I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. "He owns Moon farm."

"I'm kind of having an emergency. Could I speak to my brother please?" I hope he can help me, because no matter what, I'm not going back to my parents.

"Hold on, I'll send for him right away!" I didn't mean to alarm him that much. I guess that's just the way things work in a small town where everyone knows everyone. I listed as he called for someone. "Ann! Go get Jack quick, his sister has a problem!"

"Oh no! I'll be right back!" A girl's voice replied and running footsteps were heard.

"Miss, where are you?" Doug was filled with concern I did not expect to hear from a stranger. Even if he knows my brother, I've never met him. I wonder if he's good friends with my brother or if worrying about the few neighbors they have is just a part of these people's life style.

"I'm still a bit far, I'm heading towards my brother's place but I'm a little lost," I feel kind of stupid revealing the fact that this is not a mortal emergency. "I'm having a family crisis," I add just for the sake of not making poor Doug feel like an idiot yelling for Ann, who ever that is, to go get Jack. I can also hear some murmurs in the background, I'm pretty sure all the customers found out about this too and soon the whole town will know.

"That's terrible, don't worry, I'm sure your brother will get here soon- there he comes!" I hear the sound of doors being thrown open and foot steps rushing in.

My brother takes the phone and calls my name. "Calm down Jack, I'm not dying!"

"You said it was an emergency!" Jack is trying to catch his breath.

"It is, your little sister is homeless, can I come visit you for a while?" I don't want to impose, but he is my dear brother, he won't turn me down.

"What happened?" He presses for details.

"I've had enough. Mother and father are fine if that's what you're asking." I no longer call them mom and dad. "I can't stand them anymore, brother please; I would rather live in the street than go back there."

"Where are you?" Jack asks.

"I'm at a bus stop somewhere, I don't know where. I don't know which way to go. What should I do?" I don't mean to sound like a lost child, I'm a lost young woman, but that's different from being a lost little girl. "I mean, which way should I go?"

"I need to know where you are first, just stay calm." Even though he's saying that, Jack is more worked up than I am.

"Well there's a cafe near by, hold on I'll ask where I am," after obtaining the needed information my brother instructed me to keep heading west until I came to a ferry station. I should take a boat from there that would take me to Mineral Beach.

xoxox xox xoxox

It was night fall when I arrived at the ferry station so I thought that I would have to wait until the next day to leave. I was surprised to find that Jack was there, I was so happy to see him.

"Good to see she made it safe and sound," I assume the tall muscular man is a friend of my brother. He seems like one of those guys who looks tough but is a real teddy bear inside.

"This is my friend Zack. He heard about what happened. We knew there was no way you could make it to the ferry station before closing time, Zack gave me a ride on his boat so we could go home tonight," Jack explained, then introduced me to his friend.

"Thank you very much," I sincerely told Zack.

"No problem," Zack certainly likes to smile really big. It's kind of a contagious smile. I feel that he's the big brother type and if I stick around Mineral Town, he'll end up being like a second brother to me.

xoxox xox xoxox

It was late when we arrived at Mineral Beach, but the skies were clear and the stars were shining so it wasn't pitch black. Zack lived right next to the beach but Jack and I had a short walk to get to his house. I didn't really pay attention to the small white shop next to Zack's house at the time, as we went up the stairs and across the town square off to Jack's farm.

We passed some houses and other relatively small farms along the way, but it was late and I had been traveling for nearly twenty hours so I was too tired to pay attention to the surroundings at the time and too tired to notice how big Jack's farm was when we arrived.

"Tell me about what happened in detail tomorrow. I already told our parents you're with me," I froze, suddenly wide awake as I heard Jack.

"What?" Not good! "That means that they could be on my trail right now! What if they caught me?"

My brother has the audacity to laugh. "You make it sound like you're a fugitive."

I pout, "to them, I am."

"Relax; they didn't want to let me go either. They didn't want me to bury myself in debt buying this huge farm, but I did it, I finished paying for it and I'm living comfortably. You're a big girl now, I know what you went through sis, I'll help you get on your feet and start a new life. Besides, I made sure to give you a head start, I just wanted them to call off the police." Though technically a missing person isn't missing until twenty four hours have passed, my parents are so dramatic they probably would get the police looking for me.

"Okay, I'll trust you and I'm definitely not going back with them," I'm starting a new life.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the next morning came, by the time I got up my brother was already speaking to our parents. It seems he arranged it all for me and though they tried to talk me into returning to the city, I remained firm, strong and defying. In the end, it was a bitter goodbye as they were certain I would regret it, but I felt victorious. They even considered staying at the farm, though Jack had not spoken of an invitation, that changed when I declared, "if you stay, I'll leave." I'm not a little girl anymore; they cannot tell me where to live.

Once they were gone, my brother suggested waiting until the next day to take a walk around town, when the drama died down a little. In the mean time, he showed me around the farm. He had eight sheep, eight cows, eight chickens, one horse and one dog. I'm not an animal expert, but thankfully all the animals were very tame so it was like a petting zoo.

"I hope you don't mind helping out around the farm," I knew I would have to help out, so it came as no surprise.

"Sure, I'll help, but Jack, have you been taking care of the farm on your own? This place looks too big for just one person to handle. You not only have a lot of animals, but you also have a lot of land with plants."

"I have seven little helpers, but they're a little shy towards people they don't know." I thought it funny how my brother worded it as if he was being assisted by seven little magical dwarfs or something.

I received quite a surprise when I saw a blur of cyan speed by. Because of the color I knew right away it wasn't an animal, but it was too small to be a person. Even if it was a child, a toddler that small should still be leaning to walk, unable to run that fast.

"Come on out Aqua, this is my sister, it's okay." My brother spoke to a spot behind a small stone and from there a little man came out.

I stared at the little man; he was wearing cyan clothes, pointy hat included to match his pointy ears. His body was in proportion but very small. Somehow, I knew he wasn't a dwarf, that being was something else.

"This is Aqua, he's a sprite. There are seven sprites who help me around the farm, they like flour. Aqua, this is my sister," I felt completely silly as my brother introduced me to that being as naturally as he introduced me to Zack, but Zack was human.

"Hello," I couldn't stop staring at the little guy and I think I was accidentally making him nervous.

"Hello... budum," the sprite spoke.

"Budum?" I repeated dumbly.

"Budum," the sprite repeated also.

"Budum?" What was the meaning of that strange word?

"Budum!" Aqua started laughing, than pulled out a tiny flute from under his pointy hat and began to play it.

"Oh good, he likes you," Jack was still looking perfectly calm, as if there wasn't some strange being right out of a fairy tale standing in front of us.

Another six little sprites came out of various locations around the farm and joined the first playing their little melody. My brother introduced me to each of them, though I'm not sure I'll be able to remember all their names, I'm not very good with names.

The one wearing cyan I already knew was Aqua, the one in a darker blue was Staid, Nappy was wearing orange, the one in purple was Bold, the one in red was Chef, Hoggy was the one in yellow and Timid was dressed in green.

I could only stare dumbly as they finished their song and exclaimed in unison, "budum!"

"Um... budum, hello..." at least they looked happy. They giggled and laughed, then went back to work and I looked at my brother, mouth open, unable to produce any more sounds.

"You'll get used to having them around. They're really helpful," just like that, as if this wasn't strange at all, as if he was simply talking about getting new neighbors or something, new human neighbors. "Anyway, about the farm, I think it's best if you stay away from the bee hive," Jack pointed to a tree behind the chicken coop. "Try brushing the sheep and cows, be gentle with them," and he handed me a brush.

"Like this?" I tried brushing a passing cow who mooed happily.

"Yes, just like that, that's all you need to do; I'll take care of the milk and wool. They like being called my their names, so I'll take care of talking to them too." For a moment I stared at Jack as if he grew a second head.

"They talk?" This was turning out to be a very strange place.

"No, of course not, they just like listening to people talk to them, but you'd have to remember all their names for that," they all looked alike to me, so I guess that task would remain with my brother. He knows I'm bad with names.

"Oh, okay then, I'll just brush them," it was simple enough at least.

"Right, after you're done, starting tomorrow, you should take the dog to the beach. Make sure you take the dog disk in the cabinet. Play with him for a while," I nodded accepting the task, though I didn't think it was useful and the question was clear in my eyes so my brother replied before I even asked. "It's to train him for the dog disk tournament. There are a lot of festivals and competitions in this town."

"Oh, okay, got it!" It was a small town in the middle of no where, these people had to entertain themselves somehow.

xoxox xox xoxox

In the following days, I got to know the town's people, including the resident con-artist Won. I met him at six in the morning, I time in which I was awake from lack of air conditioner, because I can't sleep without it, especially in a hot summer morning with farm animals being noisy outside. He was selling various products, mostly apple themed, and he saved my life.

"This here is an..."

"Yes! I'll buy it!" I snatched the wireless antenna from his hand and ran inside to plug it to my laptop. "Beloved internet!"

"Miss you haven't paid for that!" Won called after me.

"How much?" I didn't think it would cost much more than it would in an electronics store.

Was I ever wrong, "ten thousand gold."

"Kidding, right?"

"I would not joke about business."

I didn't care, I wasn't going to return my miracle antenna. "That's not fair!" I was firmly planted at the door; I wasn't going to let him retrieve it.

"Pay for it or return it."

I growled in irritation, "how about a knuckle sandwich Mr. Con-artist?"

"There's no need to resort to violence," he backed away.

"Is there a problem?" Jack's timing was flawless and after much begging from me, he paid Won and I promised to make it up to him by helping more around the farm.

That was the event that brought me to the situation of picking some freshly grown corn and delivering it to supply the shop on the beach as an extra farm chore. Jack didn't mention that it happened to be called the Shore Shack.

xoxox xox xoxox

I never thought that the place Kai disappeared to every summer was the same town where my brother lived. He never told me the town's name, so I was taken by surprise when I waltzed in with a basket full of corn, only to stop dead in my tracks.

"What are you doing here?" We asked in perfect unison.

"I work here, this is my shop," Kai informed me.

I could feel myself twitching, frustration and hurt rising. I did not want to look at Kai's face again. An argument with him threw me over the edge and the strained relationship I had with my parents finally snapped. True that I'm certain it would have happened anyway and it would be unfair to blame Kai, but he was the first domino to fall, pushing the rest along.

I placed the delivery on the counter and stated nothing more than the price. "Why are you here?" Kai insisted.

"I live here, at the farm," my tone sent the message that I had as much right to be there as he did, though he wasn't trying to make it sound otherwise.

"You got a job at the farm?" I realized he must be feeling stalked.

I will not allow him to flatter himself in such a way, "my brother has been living here for years."

"Jack," he guesses and I confirm with a nod. "Jack is your brother, I never knew."

"I didn't expect to find you here," I left the phrase hanging in the air and turned to leave as soon as he handed me the payment for the ingredients I brought. I think he said something after that, but I didn't catch it at all.

xoxox xox xoxox

I rushed back to the farm and finished up the rest of my chores. I was always exhausted afterwards; I'm definitely not used to this, even if the sprites do most of the work anyway, leaving me with about half a day to spare. I, obviously, decided to relax.

I wanted to avoid going to beach, but found myself heading towards that spot again when Popuri, my brother's girlfriend, insisted that we went to get some ice-cream together and got to know each other, since I was her future sister in law.

I tried to reason with her but it didn't work. "I really don't want to go there, the truth is Kai is my ex..."

I didn't expect Popuri to giggle and reply "mine too" as easily as one would express liking the same flavor of ice-cream as someone else. "We have something in common," she was amused, but I was not. I still went to the Shore Shack, I wasn't going to chicken out and I glared daggers at Kai the entire time.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days later that I heard from Mary that Kai was annoyed at my behavior. "He's friends with Gray and sometimes asks him to be a food critic, since Gray used to live in the city and knows what city food tastes like," Mary commented as a way to explain the origins of her information. Kai was Gray's friend and Gray was Mary's boyfriend. Kai told Gray about being annoyed, Gray told Mary and she told me. Rumors travel fast in this town.

I also noted how much it bothered me that Kai had never asked me to try his food. "I didn't want to be around him, but Popuri insisted that we got shaved ice." I paused at Mary's confused expression; I can picture her imagining a caricature of a block of ice shaving itself as a man would shave his beard. "Ice-cream," it feels like a crime to call it that and I'm mad at Kai for fueling the ignorance of not knowing the difference between the delicious treat that is ice-cream and the simplicity of little pieces of ice with not enough syrup.

"I'm sorry," I'm not sure why Mary is apologizing.

"Why?"

"He hurt you, that's why it's painful to look at him..."

I feel my anger boil. "Are you kidding me? I was worried he thought I was stalking him. When I came to live with my brother I didn't even know this was the town Kai visited every summer. I don't want him to flatter himself thinking I came for him." Showing anger and glaring at him is the best way to prove that, isn't it? Or am I doing the opposite? "Either way, it doesn't matter, he'll be gone at summer's end and I'll stick around." Then I'll forget about him and it won't bother me to look at him when and if he comes back next summer.

xoxox xox xoxox

This is a small town where what one does affects what everyone else dose, and these people are not too fond of those who break the pattern. As I had heard from Popuri's brother Rick, Kai was one of those who broke the pattern of their quiet lives and festivals with his coming and going. Though it looked like the rest of the villagers didn't really mind since there was a sort of predictability in his movements, he came and went with the summer.

It wasn't until later one night when I found out that the town's unmoving time frame was finally going to move forward and I heard it from half drunken Karen. "I'm getting married," I think I was the last to find out and suddenly the comments I had heard about Karen and Rick made sense. I thought those things were said concerning them as a dating couple, maybe one with an approaching anniversary, but people were in fact talking about the upcoming wedding of the childhood friends. The domino effect was about to repeat itself in another way.

One after another, the couples got married. Karen and Rick, Mary and Gray, Elli and Doctor, Ann and Cliff, even my brother Jack and Popuri got married. One couple got married and the others soon followed, like a row of dominos falling.

But I exist outside of that row and though it felt like it was the domino effect that brought me here, I realize that it was long overdue action. I should have come long ago; I'm here because I want to be, not because I was pushed to this point by life, as these people are.

xoxox xox xoxox

I heard stories about the Harvest Goddess and went to try my luck throwing in some flowers. This small town held a certain mystic aura to it. I didn't think there was such a being as a Harvest Goddess, at least not outside of mythology, but the sprites were real, so I wouldn't assume anything until I investigated the matter further.

After throwing some flowers in the pond near the hot springs, a woman with green hair adorned with flowers and a lovely dress appeared to tell me that she liked the offering. She knew my name and didn't take too long to say her goodbyes, but I called out to her. "Wait! Harvest Goddess, I want to ask you something."

"This is unusual, but go ahead, what do you wish to ask?" I guess people just offered flowers more often than they looked for advice.

The realization hit me, I wasn't sure what my question was, so I just asked the first thing that came into my mind. "Should I stay in this town?"

"That is for you to decide, I can't give you the answer," I should have expected that. "It sounds like you're a bit confused, time will guide you if you can't find your way," and then she disappeared.

I came to talk to the Harvest Goddess often, always offering flowers until one day she expressed her appreciation for all the offerings and asked, "is there someone you like?"

I thought about the question, Summer had ended, Kai was gone, and there was no one who caught my attention that way in Mineral Town, there weren't many bachelors to choose from. "Not right now."

"Very well, let me know if you change your mind," then the Harvest Goddess disappeared as she usually did.

xoxox xox xoxox

My brother had let me keep his second house in Mineral Town; I still worked at the farm and got a little better at it as time went by. I occasionally bought things imported from the city from Won. Eventually, I convinced him to give them to me at fair prices all thanks to a hammer I borrowed without asking from Jack's toolbox. I put it back before he noticed.

Life continued as if it was at a stand still once again. Time moves so slowly that some days it feels as if it doesn't move at all. It's a new era, but it's not any more eventful than the last. Everything is predictable; if the first domino falls so will the others. When the first couple got married the others did as well. Those events signaled the coming of a new era, and that era brought forth a new routine identical to the last.

Each day has faded into the previous and I wonder how many days have passed, how many seasons. Though it feels like I've been here for an eternity, because I cannot distinguish one day from another, it's hard to say if I've been here for a year or a week, far more or far less. Then Kai arrives signaling the start of summer and I realize that it has been a year.

xoxox xox xoxox

I make deliveries from the farm to Kai now and then. We talk normally, as if he was never my ex in the first place. I go to his shop for shaved ice I'm bored and insist on using its proper name. "When next summer comes, all the young couples will have babies," because when the first domino falls so do the others. My brother and his wife are those first dominoes this time.

"I guess they always do everything at the same time, weddings and children too. How have you been doing working at the farm?"

"Fine, it's all the same, there's not much to do in this town. It feels like living the same day over and over, then it's summer and the Shore Shack opens, so I realize that a year went by."

"Have you thought about traveling?"

"Maybe..."

"It would be fun."

"I guess..."

"You've changed..."

"Huh?" I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

"You used to be childish and complained about your family all the time," Kai reminds me.

"So did you," I remind him.

"Yes, I know, but I've been traveling more. I left in the spring and traveled around. Then in the summer I came here. I don't know where I'll go in the fall."

"So you're not going back to that city? You got your freedom, that's good," I'm honest when I say this, I really am happy for him.

"Yeah, I might be coming here between trips."

I nod and continue to listen of the tales of towns and cities.

xoxox xox xoxox

Kai broke the pattern; he came and went not only during the summer but all year long. He became unpredictable, a stress for the town and a breath of fresh air for me. Finally, Kai settled into an extended vacation from his travels and remained in Mineral Town for several season. Then he went on another trip and invited me to come along as a friend; I did.

Upon my return, I can't say the residents of Mineral Town were thrilled of my coming and going without a predictable date of departure or return, it broke the pattern.

At some point in a distant city Kai and I kissed and decided to date again. We came and went freely, realizing that it was our own restraints that made the relationship fall apart and not each other. We both had things to deal with; we were both tired of dealing with our families and thus didn't want to think about the possibility to deal with the other's family. But when that possibility was erased, things fell into place one after the other, like dominoes.

Kai and I still exist outside of the cycle, we move at our own pace without following a guide or being pushed along by others, who are in turn being pushed along by an unknown force, empowered by everyone and no one. The domino effect has no effect on us. Some pieces sometimes fall out of order and others don't fall at all. We are free.

End

Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon. 


	21. Trouble Knocks Twice

I'm moving all my Mineral town one-shots into this collection to make them easier to find. :)

Mineral Town has been in peace for years, until the arrival of a certain someone who will turn their town upside down. AnnxCliff, PopurixKai, MaryxGray, EllixDoctor and another pairing I won't say because it's a spoiler. XD

Trouble Knocks Twice

Bargain 01: She Came in the Morning

It all began one morning at the Mineral Town Inn, Ann was humming a tune as she cleaned the counter and Cliff had not yet left for work. Their son sat idly leaning on the counter, still half asleep until Ann cleared her throat and called his name several times shaking her head at how easily her son spaced out, but he was adorable none the less, and he did get his elbows off the counter when he finally got the message.

Ann's father was talking to Cliff, he had taken to him quickly and welcomed him to the family with open arms from the start, though it had been several years since then, they still kept a good father-son-like relationship. Aside from the two quiet voices, all was silent and all was calm at the inn. It was very early in the morning and the guests were sleeping, with the restaurant still not open for business.

Then there was a knock on the closed door, followed by another knock soon after and finally there was silence. Ann paused the circular movements of the cloth atop the counter, Cliff and Doug ceased their relaxed chat and the youngest of the four, the son of Ann and Cliff, finally woke up. The boy looked at his mother, father and grandfather and neither of the three moved, thus he resolved to go open the door himself. Sure they were not yet open for business, but it would be mean to leave whoever was there waiting outside. Maybe the other three meant to open the door but they were so surprised by the early visit they didn't even move.

Mineral Town was a small and predictable place. The guests at the inn were mostly family members of the town's residents who came to visit now and then. Those visits were expected and came as no surprise given how fast gossip traveled in the small town, but no one at the inn had heard anything about the coming of a visitor.

"Trouble knocks twice..." Doug muttered under his breath. It was an old saying to signify that one should heed warnings. But in this case it reflected his worry at the unusual occurrence of an early visitor combined with an odd feeling of foreboding. Yet if this was a neighbor bearing an emergency, he or she would not have bothered to knock and wait for a response, resorting simply to calling the names of Doug or his family at the top of their lungs.

Doug's grandson paused, his hand inches away from the doorknob. "I don't think it's bad news..." Then he opened the door without waiting for a response from his grandfather or any comments from his parents.

Upon opening the door, the boy found a girl. She was wearing a violet Chinese style dress with pink cherry blossom decorations, her long black hair falling elegantly to her waist, eyes sparkling with a mixture of mischief and cunning wit. "Hello," she smiled brightly holding out her basket full of shiny red apples. "Would you like to buy an apple?"

The boy just stood there dumb stuck, "huh?"

The girl giggled, "would you like to buy an apple?"

"Oh sure..." Needless to say he was surprised. Why in the world would someone be selling apples door to door so early in the morning?

"How wonderful! Please choose the one you like best."

The boy nodded and picked one of the apples from the basket, watching as the girl gained an uneasy expression. "What's wrong? Should I pick a different one?"

"Oh no, that's fine. It's just that... well... I take really good care of these apples, and selling apples is my job, something my father taught me, but the apples... they're a bit expensive, some would say. But they're very delicious! You should try it, did you eat breakfast today? An apple is great in the morning! By the way, what's your name if you don't mind me asking?"

The boy blinked, she had said a mouthful with her tone changing from unsure to cheerful. "Um... Nate..."

"Nice to meet you Nate, I'm Lei!" The apple seller girl offered her delicate hand for a shake.

Nate, son of Cliff and Ann and heir to his father's shyness, blushed and timidly accepted the handshake. "Nice to meet you too."

"Will you tell me if the apple tastes good?" Lei continued to smile.

"Sure!" Then Nate took a bite of the apple. "It's delicious!" He sincerely replied. All of this occurred at the door with him inside and her outside, the doorframe in-between and an audience of three other people.

Ann, Cliff and Doug watched without a word. Cliff was reminded of himself with the way Nate acted so shy, and Ann was happy at the possibility of a girl taking interest in her son so quickly, he was adorable after all with his father's long brown hair and his mother's bright blue eyes.

Then the girl dropped the bomb, "that would be one thousand gold please."

Nate's jaw hung open and the expression was shared by Ann, Cliff and Doug. "One... thousand..." The boy shook his head, "you're joking, right?"

"No I'm not, I'm totally serious. That apple you just ate is the Lovely Luxury Lucky Apple, it will bring you good luck! I did say the apples are expensive..." Sure Lei looked innocent enough, but she was far more cunning than anyone ever imagined.

"But I..." Nate stammered, unable to find the words to properly express whatever he wanted to express, because he wasn't sure of it himself.

"Are you... Would you really... Please don't steal from me, that's so mean!" Lei dramatically cried.

"I won't! I'm not! I'll pay!" With that said, Nate dashed to his room and returned in record breaking time, tumbling down the stairs. He got up and rushed to the door with an apologetic expression and paid his debt. "Here you go, these are all my savings..."

Ann shook her head, "I can't believe this," she rounded the counter and glared at Lei. "Listen young lady you can't go around doing things like this, tricking others. That apple isn't even worth a hundred gold let alone a thousand!"

"You're so mean! After I took such good care of my apples!" Lei gave Nate a sad look.

"Mom, don't yell at her!" The boy went to the rescue and the inn was filled with gasps because Nate had always been a good boy who never raised his voice, and he just did, though he apologized soon after, "um... sorry..." He paused and took a deep breath, "it's okay Lei don't feel bad, I'll make it up to you." Thus an unusual friendship began.

Bargain 02: She Came in the Evening

The sun had started to set in the endless ocean horizon. Kai and Popuri were at the Beach Shack still, having a family diner with their son. The boy was the first to look up when he heard a knock on the door and the first to get up when the second knock came.

At first they thought it was a customer and the girl standing there could have been a customer, but she soon revealed she wasn't, after Jan, son of Popuri and Kai, invited her to "come in, the Beach Shack is officially closed, but we can make an exception," with a flirtatious tone that made Popuri shake her head and Kai feel secretly proud.

"Oh thank you," Lei smiled radiantly, "but I'm not here to eat, I'm selling apples. You can eat them or maybe even use them as ingredients!"

"Sure tell me more about your apples," and Jan succeeded in getting Lei to come inside. He glanced at his parents apologetically for leaving their family dinner at one of the tables, instead taking his position behind the counter while Lei sat in front of it.

"These apples are very special and they're... well..." Lei looked a little sad, an expression which puzzled Jan.

"What is it?"

"A bit expensive... very expensive actually. One would have to be a hardworking and brilliant person to be able to easily afford them..." Lei laid out her trap, this was too easy.

Jan grinned sheepishly, walking right into the lioness' cave. "Lucky for you that's exactly how I am! Give me one of those apples... actually, I'll buy them all."

"Are you sure?" Lei innocently inquired.

"Of course!" Jan assured.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

"I think men who can keep their promises are quite admirable."

"And I can definitely do that."

Lei ran her slender fingers through her dark hair, tugging a strand behind her ear. "That would be nineteen thousand gold please."

The tension could be cut with a knife and a thick silence hung in the air until Popuri made it shatter with her laughter. "Smart girl, huh? You'll take as big a payment as anyone is willing to give you."

"Yeah," Jan laughed as well, but Kai was alerted to the cunning nature of the young girl, thus he remained absolutely silent.

"Actually, it's the truth, there are nineteen apples here and you said you would buy them all. They each cost one thousand gold so if my calculations are correct, and I do believe they are, that means the total price to buy all nineteen apples comes up to nineteen thousand gold," Lei nonchalantly informed.

"But that's... it's... Completely ridiculous!" Jan was frank and direct.

Which caused Lei to respond with a hurt look, "you're mean, yelling at a lady and breaking your promise. You lied to me before you even knew my name!" She dramatized.

"That's not... I didn't... You can't expect me to pay that much!" Jan pouted and crossed his arms.

Popuri opened her mouth to speak and promptly closed it again, unable to think of what to say. Kai shook his head and sighed, a rare action coming from him. He would leave this up to Jan. The boy either walked out with a great debt and a big ego or hurt pride and his earnings for the next few months intact. As much as Kai wanted to advice him, he decided to give his son the freedom Kai himself came so far to seek and allow Jan to establish his own priorities and decide what he wanted.

"I see I misjudged you," Lei's voice was a mixture of hurt and venom. "A real man would have kept his promise no matter what." Lei picked up her basket full of apples and headed for the door, intentionally walking slowly.

Three, two, one, "wait!" right on time, as Lei's hand rested on the unturned doorknob, Jan called after her.

"What is it?" Lei turned suddenly, long silky hair flowing as she did.

"I'll buy those apples," thus Jan sealed his fate for a long time. "I will keep my promise but you have to make it important, make it a promise to my girlfriend."

Popuri's jaw nearly hit the floor. "What just happened?" She asked Kai.

Kai could only blink in confusion, "Jan likes a challenge? A girl who can keep him on his toes? I think that's it. I don't know..." He really didn't know what to think of this, but he had decided long ago not to drive his son away by tying him down the way he had been. "I think we should let him decide."

Pupuri's head moved from side to side as she observed the expressions of all those present and noticed that far from looking like a couple in love, the two teenagers looked like they were two deadly soldiers about to battle each other. "This isn't how I pictured love at first sight."

"It takes a while," Kai tried to fill in the silence, "it just takes a while..."

Popuri sighed, "I don't really get it but I'll trust you," and if anything went wrong she would throw the heavy blame at her husband.

Thus it happened again, with more complications than before. Finally, while the staring contest still held strong, Jan asked, "What's your name?"

"Lei," the girl replied, and thus their fate was sealed.

Bargain 03: She Went All Over Town

Nate and Jan were best friends, and the news of Jan's new sweetheart came as a surprise to Nate, even more so when the full story was told.

"You don't mind do you?" Jan asked.

Nate shook his head; he should have known the new girl would end up linking his best friend. Looking at the big picture, she probably fitted Jan best. Besides, Nate had a secret crush on Nichole anyway.

xoxox xox xoxox

The days went by in Mineral Town and soon the number of people who bought Lei's apples increased. Their situation wasn't quite like the boys', they were not charmed by the exotic young lady, they were bewitched by her convincing words, as if she casted a spell when speaking about her expensive bargains.

The strange apple craze was noticed by the major of Mineral Town, and in his wonder, which he did not escape since his refrigerator was also full of apples, he paid no attention to the strangeness of the large number of tourists who came and went, apparently for the only purpose of staying at the inn, and it was seen as normal, while the apple obsession of the town's people remained a novelty.

The situation increased the inn's earnings and Nate's allowance. As a side effect, the inn was overbooked and undersupplied, causing Ann's family to strike a deal with Kai's to have some of the guests be directed to the beach for food, and others receive deliveries.

The two families were good friends and were brought together even more by their sons' friendship so the business was settled quickly thanks to their trust. Jan took care of the deliveries and both the inn and Beach Shack, by reference of the inn, were always full. This continued for weeks, until the effect lessened and the flow of customers returned to normal.

Doug attributed the event to a stroke of luck at his inn. He could think of no other logical explanation for the rush of tourists who had nothing particularly interesting to see in their small town, but didn't seem to mind. Such a stroke of luck brought prosperity and luxury to the small town inn, and as a consequence of that, to the Beach Shack and the rest of the town's commerce. Everyone agreed that, though the entire town was greatly benefited by the profitable tourists that thought everything was a souvenir worthy of being purchased, the phenomenon had originated at the inn.

Though unnoticed by Nate, Nichole's crush also grew, as if empowered by a magical force, which could not create love, but could certainly encourage it. Nichole was a quiet girl, the daughter of Gray and Mary. Her hair was similar to her mother's and her eyes the image of her father's eyes. She had a crush on Nate for a long time, unaware that he likes her back, but now it was almost irresistible to reveal her secret.

The unusual occurrences didn't end there. While the apple Nate ate was the Lovely Luxury Lucky Apple, the apples purchased by Jan had been, as Lei later told him, Super Special Splendid apples and coincidentally, though no one really made the connection, amazing things happened when Jan ate one of the apples. He was able to perform all kinds of feats, from running super fast to make deliveries, helping Zack lift boxes that the strong shipper himself couldn't carry and surfing in such an awesome way, that the entire town would gather to watch. Jan's hair even grew out brown for a time, instead of his secret pink which he dyed.

However, not all of the apples were as special, as Lei claimed. Though she tried to make them special, her recipes were not perfect. She tended to be a little careless sometimes, but didn't think it would be a problem as long as her special methods remained a secret. As a result, Nate and Jan had eaten the only truly special apples and when their effect ended, so did the series of unusual events, save for the town's addiction to apples, but the source of that were not the apples themselves, but the selling tactics which Lei used.

They say that one cannot have love, luck and fortune all at once, but Nate somehow did. They say that one cannot have intelligence, skill, strength and good looks all at once, but Jan somehow did. Those qualities, though all seven of them present in both boys, had been amplified to astonishing proportions, depending on what apples they ate, for a time until their effects wore off.

It was during Jan's enlightenment that he noticed something no one else did, but he kept the conclusion to himself, publicly showing his abilities in other areas, such as coming up with ways to keep the commerce active after the rush of tourists was reduced, as he predicted it would be, and showing off his almost inhuman athletic abilities at the beach.

Because of the two boys, Mineral Town would be prosperous for a long time and thanks to Jan's strategies, it would not lose its peace and quiet. Zack was happy, coming and going in his big new ship, exporting the goods from the quiet but rich town, many being famous souvenirs that sold like hotcakes in the city, but were very economical to produce. It took a combination of luck and skill to get it all going, and after the initial impulse, people were able to manage after the incantation worse off.

xoxox xox xoxox

Time passed and when things calmed down, though still prosperous, the atmosphere of Mineral Town was quiet. The Harvest Goddess still showed up at the pond, with a knowing look on her face, and Jan was certain she knew long ago what he had come realize about Lei. The Kappa still inhabited the area in the outskirts of town, and the harvest sprites were still in their little hut next to the church. Aside from their usual legends, there was nothing else out of the ordinary in Mineral Town that anyone could point out.

Bargain 04: She Got What She Came For

One day, Nichole, who had become friends with Lei during the merchant girl's extended stay in Mineral Town, was encouraged to put on a play at the square. Thus Lei gathered the rest of the cast and the story of Snow White was brought to the audience of Mineral Town.

Nichole was to be Snow White, and Lei made sure to cast Nate as the prince, which he shyly but happily agreed to. Jan was casted as the king, and as he expected, Lei insisted on being the witch, who was also the king's wife.

The castle workers and forest animals were played by the twins, son and daughter of Elli and Doctor, who were very amused by the variety of costumes they had to put on in different scenes. The harvest sprites were casted as the dwarfs and persuaded to earnestly rehearse bribed by flour.

When the play was presented everyone in town gathered at the square. Everything was alright, until the final scene of Snow White's awakening came. Nichole had eaten the apple provided by Lei and fallen into a deep sleep, except her slumber was real.

Due to his shy nature, Nate got cold feet. Not only was he to kiss his crush, but he was expected to do it in front of the entire town. To give him more time to prepare, the curtain was brought down.

"Nichole, try to tell him it's alright," Jan encouraged, his shy friend really needed that extra push, but the girl who played Snow White did not reply.

"Nichole?" Nate shyly called in whispers so the crowd at the other side of the curtain of their newly build stage at the square would not hear. "Nichole, why won't you say anything?" Nate touched her hand and found with horror that it was very cold.

Nate paled, alerting Jan with his expression that something was wrong. "Oh no, Lei..."

Lei examined Nichole and nodded solemnly, she suspected Jan was on to her. "Mean Malevolent Malicious apple... It was supposed to be the Magnificent Majestic Miracle apple, but it looks like I made a mistake. No matter, the spell can be broken by her true love, just like in a fairy tale. Nate, it's up to you."

Nate was confused, but it sounded as if the apple deal was serious, so he called upon his courage and kissed his Snow White, while the mischievous twins pulled the curtains up to show the final scene of the play.

Snow White awoke and happily danced with her prince, while the seven dwarfs played music and the forest animals joined the celebration.

The Harvest Goddess had snuck into the audience, and among the claps and cheers, she jumped on stage. "I am the good witch! Now dear sister, you see that no good comes from wanting to rid the kingdom of Snow White? Become the fair queen again!"

Though that last part of the scene was improvised, it flowed well. Lei and Jan joined the dancing and the crowed cheered louder, joining the actors in their song and dance. It was one of the biggest celebrations Mineral Town ever saw.

xoxox xox xoxox

Lei was in fact a witch, or a half witch at least. Jan had noticed the truth, but since she was a good witch, though a little careless with her magic sometimes, he made no big deal about it. This was admitted by Lei only to Jan, Nate and Nichole, and besides the Harvest Goddess, no one else in Mineral Town knew.

The three were near the Goddess' pond when this confession occurred, and the Goddess heard and joined them. "Dear child, what was it that brought you to Mineral Town? I know you came here with a purpose other than selling apples." Though she knew the girl's mother disliked her, the Harvest Goddess had nothing against Lei.

"Yes, it's true," Lei admitted. "I sold apples to support myself while I was here, but the reason I came here was to find the spirit of friendship. My mother, the Witch Princess, had an accident with a magical experiment and turned my father, Won, into stone. She tried to cure him, but could not. Finally, she found a spell that she was sure would work, but one of the ingredients was the spirit of friendship. We didn't know how to get it, or even what it looked like. While mother researched alternative cures, I set out to find the spirit of friendship in hopes of completing that spell and curing father. Father had spoken of this town before, even if he had not been here for a long time, and mother had heard of it too. We thought that it was likely that the spirit of friendship was here in Mineral Town, so I came to find it, but so far I don't have the smallest clue of where it is."

"Actually, you already found it," the Goddess assured. "The spirit of friendship isn't a thing, it is a feeling; the feelings of your friends towards you, and you towards them. Regardless of how things started, overtime, you all formed true friendships, that is the spirit of friendship which you carry within you. Go home child, cast the spell yourself and with the friendship you have received, you will be able to cure your father."

Lei returned to Forget Me Not Valley and casted the spell, trusting that he spirit of friendship was in her. Despite her mother not getting along with the Harvest Goddess, the young half-witch decided to trust her words and the spell her mother had accidentally casted upon her father was broken. The Witch Princess and her husband were happy again, and Lei often went back to visit Mineral Town.

End

Nate, Lei, Jan and Nichole are OCs. Disclaimer, I don't own Harvest Moon or Snow White. 


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